Temporal Orientation and the Association Between Adverse Life Events and Internalizing Symptoms in Vietnamese American and European American Adolescents

Abstract

Adverse life events predict varying negative outcomes, including internalizing symptoms. However, research finds cross-cultural variation in whether and to what degree factors amplify or buffer the impact of these stressors. Cultural congruence may be an important explanation of this cross-cultural variation in adaptive responses. Broadly defined as the tendency to focus on past, present, or future events, temporal orientation is a dispositional factor that is culturally influenced and may explain variance in internalizing symptoms following adverse life events. The current study examines how culturally congruent temporal orientation differentially impacts the relationship between adverse life events and internalizing symptoms in a longitudinal sample of 676 10th and 11th grade Vietnamese American and European American adolescents. Results indicated that Vietnamese American adolescents endorsed significantly higher levels of past and present temporal orientation than European American adolescents. However, no significant mean ethnic group differences were found for future temporal orientation. In both the Vietnamese and European American subsamples, past temporal orientation was positively associated with internalizing symptoms and adverse life events. However, temporal orientations did not moderate the relationship between adverse life events and internalizing symptoms in the overall sample, and the influences of temporal orientation on this relationship were not further moderated by ethnicity. Interactions between present temporal orientation and internalizing symptoms were significant, such that present temporal orientation may be beneficial for European American adolescents. These data highlight the importance of measuring and testing specific dimensions of culturally relevant processes when considering responses to adversity.