"Asi es la Vida": Stress, Control, and Coping Among Latino/a Immigrants

Scholars are increasingly researching the influence of sociocultural factors on the stress-coping process. However, research on the stress-coping process among Latinx immigrants remains understudied despite significant population growth in the United States. This qualitative study sought to better understand how Latinx immigrants experience stress and how they cope with it. Drawing from focus groups with 23 Latino/a immigrant participants living in and around Charlotte, North Carolina, we present how they conceptualize stress as an inevitable, uncontrollable entity that is often addressed through emotional self-management. Participant narratives suggest this may be a consequence of cultural traits like familismo and social constraints like documentation status and acculturative stress. This study explores the relationship between sociocultural factors, sense of control, stress appraisal, and selection of coping strategies among Latinx immigrants. Results of this study can help inform the development of culturally competent stress management interventions for Latinx immigrants. Public Significance Statement This study demonstrates how social constraints and cultural values may inform how Latino/a immigrant participants conceptualize stress as inevitable and outside their control. Results suggest that issues related to documentation status and familial obligations contribute more to feelings of low control than spirituality or fatalism.