Bicultural competence as a mediator and moderator of acculturative family distancing and psychological outcomes

The present study examined whether bicultural competence served as a mediator (i.e., an apparent causal mechanism) or a moderator (i.e., a variable that describes for whom or under what situation) for the relationship between Acculturative Family Distancing (AFD) and two psychological outcomes (i.e., depression and psychological wellbeing). A total of 258 Latino college students attending large, predominantly White public universities in the Midwest completed two online surveys in the fall 2012 and spring 2013 semesters. Data were analyzed using path analysis to test for mediation and hierarchical regression analyses to test for moderation. For mediation, results indicated that bicultural competence at Time 2 mediated the relations between AFD at Time 1 and depression at Time 2 and psychological wellbeing at Time 2 above and beyond the effects of depression, psychological wellbeing, acculturation, and enculturation at Time 1. Moreover, about 26% of the variance in bicultural competence at Time 2 was explained by AFD, enculturation, acculturation, and psychological wellbeing at Time 1; 23% of the variance in depression at Time 2 was explained by bicultural competence at Time 2, depression at Time 1, and psychological wellbeing at Time 1; and 32% of variance in psychological wellbeing at Time 2 was explained by bicultural competence at Time 2 and psychological wellbeing at Time 1. For moderation, results demonstrated a main effect of AFD on psychological wellbeing at Time 2 and a main effect of bicultural competence on both depression and psychological wellbeing at Time 2. The interaction of AFD and bicultural competence did not significantly predict depression at Time 2 or psychological wellbeing at Time 2 after the effects of depression, psychological wellbeing, acculturation, and enculturation at Time 1 were statistically controlled. Limitations, future research directions, and implications for counseling were discussed.