The substantially lower prevalence of stressors among immigrant Latinos is consistent with past studies (Tillman and Weiss, 2009). These findings highlight the importance of examining nativity status with Latino populations; stratification of Hispanics by nativity status revealed important differences in stress exposure that would otherwise be masked. There are several possible explanations for the marked variation by place of birth. Immigrant communities may have social support networks or communal resources that protect them from exposure to stress (Viruell-Fuentes 2007). There may also be a selection effect in which immigrants in search of better economic opportunities are predisposed to view the glass as half full rather than half empty and therefore more likely to discount or under-report stressors in their destination community. Alternatively, low rates of stress exposure could reflect measurement limitations, since relevant stressors for immigrants, such as acculturation or legal status (Finch et al., 2004), were not measured. Future research incorporating measures of acculturative stress along with traditionally assessed stressors could help explain the patterns among Hispanic subpopulations.
