Introduction:

Immigrants make roughly 39.4% of Canada’s population. They are defined as individuals who have ever been classified as a “landed immigrant” or a “permanent resident”. South Asian (SA) immigrants originate from countries such as Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka and as of 2016, they made up 5.5% of the Canadian population. In 2021, approximately 42, 000 adolescents immigrated to Canada. Immigrants undergo the process of acculturation, during which they take in psychological and socio-cultural components of the society they relocate to, assimilating them into their own sets of cultural beliefs. This process can be challenging for adolescents as they have had more time to get accustomed to their environment, develop relationships with friends and family in their country of birth. The stress associated with this process is called acculturative stress, defined as “a reduction in health status including psychological, somatic and social aspects.”

Methods:

“PubMed,” “PychInfo” and “Omni” were used to conduct a literature search using the search terms “mental health”, “acculturation”, “acculturative stress”, “South Asian”, “adolescent(s)”, “female”, “girls”, “coping”, “immigrants”, “resources”, “barriers”, “North America”, “Europe”, “Oceania”, “challenges” and “obstacles”. Only articles published in English until March 16, 2022 were considered. Duplicated publications and those not pertaining to the specific subject matter were removed. Out of the selected publications 984 met partial search criteria and 20 related directly to the topic of interest.

Results

Only a limited number of literatures was found specifically addressing the SA female adolescents. The acculturative stress experienced by SA adolescents is highly individualized based on race, ethnicity, religion, mother tongue and gender. A significant portion of this stress stems from discrimination, minority status, , language barriers, academic expectations, unfamiliar social & cultural structures, and intergenerational conflicts within families. Family conflicts specially affects the SA girls as Western values are more egalitarian, and the values of SA families tend to be more patriarchal. The resulting psychological stress can lead to depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and substance abuse in this group. Many SA immigrant girls in the West cope with mental health concerns invisible to others or remain unidentified until issues reach crisis levels due to their cultural beliefs around mental health. Many immigrant SA women aspire to attain the harmony between their two cultures by accepting certain facets and rejecting others which has been shown to lead to positive outcomes.  Furthermore, understanding their separateness from both cultures as individuals, placing value in their individuality, and nurturing a critical attitude toward Western cultural beliefs are some ways to tackle this stress. Obtaining new knowledge, language, and intercultural skills also reduce this stress. Medical interventions including psychotherapy are underutilized methods among the SA population in general due to the stigma and lack of acknowledgement of their use. .

Conclusion:

The process of acculturation is invariably experienced by those who immigrate. This process is more stressful and commonly seen in adolescents. Identification of challenges specific to SA female adolescents in their own cultural and family contest is crucial to develop coping strategies and support systems to help them effectively.   

Keywords:

South Asian, Acculturation, Female adolescents