Cultural Competence Across Immigrant Groups (1 CE)

Course By: Tamara Avery, PsyD

This course is for:  Psychologists, Counselors, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists

Content By: Oppedal, B., Keles, S., Cheah, C., and Roysamb, E. (2020). Culture competence and mental health across different immigrant and refugee groups, BMC Public Health, 20 (292), 1-13.

Course Description: Many countries have experienced a shift in cultural diversity due to high immigration rates. Pre-migratory traumatic experiences, acculturation demands, adaptation to the resettlement country’s multicultural context, and socioeconomic deprivation are immigration concomitants that may resultantly lead to mental health problem development among immigrant background youth. A key acculturation task is cultural competence development to thrive and socially participate in cultural domains and within the heritage. The development of an acculturation measure that is theoretically linked to mental health, and can assist in monitoring immigrant background youth, is a high priority. Researchers endeavored to examine a construct that effectively captured the same competence-phenomenon across different languages, ages, and immigrant groups. Overall, each cultural competence dimension on the Youth Culture Competence Scale (YCCS) had a unique association with depressive symptom presentation across samples.    

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the literature regarding acculturation, immigration, and the Youth Culture Competence Scale (YCCS)
2. Consider the phenomenon of culture competence and youth interpersonal behavior patterns
3. Understand the statistical findings and suggested areas for future research

Course Outline:

• Read and understand Culture competence and mental health across different immigrant and refugee groups
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Consider the acculturation demands faced by immigrants coupled with the statistical findings presented in the accompanying article
• Work through the post-test questions; answer selections should be derived from the respective article
• Return to the referenced article for any missed questions and/or to better understand acculturation, adaptation to the resettlement country, and culture competence

Approvals: