Culture, Context, and Cognition: A Meta-Analytic Study Examining the Role of US Acculturation in Neuropsychological Functioning
Abstract
Research indicates that pre-morbid demographic (e.g., age, education, sex) and sociocultural (e.g., acculturation) factors can markedly impact neuropsychological test performance among ethnoculturally diverse populations. Acculturation is defined as the process of individual change that occurs due to continual contact with individuals from different cultures. Broadly, previous findings indicate that higher acculturation to the United States (US) is associated with better neurocognitive functioning. The present study serves as the first meta-analytic and comprehensive exploration of the relationship between United States acculturation and neuropsychological functioning. Overall, a heterogenous body of findings revealed a small, statistically significant relationship between higher levels of acculturation to the United States and better performances on global neuropsychological functioning and some neuropsychological domains (i.e., processing speed, attention/working memory, memory, visuospatial, motor). Results suggest that neuropsychological test performances may vary widely based on the specific methodologies and sample characteristics represented in each study. In addition to characterizing potential reasons for the high level of heterogeneity across the literature, the current study also provided a preliminary examination of sociodemographic moderators (e.g., age, education) that may contribute to this relationship. Finally, the present findings underscore the need to examine the clinical utility of acculturation tools in conjunction with neuropsychological tests to assist in clinical decision making with ethnoculturally diverse populations.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Neurosciences
Recommended Citation
Aghvinian, Maral, "Culture, Context, and Cognition: A Meta-Analytic Study Examining the Role of US Acculturation in Neuropsychological Functioning" (2023). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI29328275.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI29328275
