Exploring the relationship between stress and social support in a group of migrants: A biocultural analysis

Abstract

Studies widely document the influence of social support on stress, but often without explicit attention to individual backgrounds and sociocultural factors that affect their meanings and experience. Anthropological studies have bridged this gap by employing biocultural frameworks to assess the interaction between sociocultural environments and human biology, but few have looked at biological measures of stress in conjunction with social support to understand how main effect and stress-buffering mechanisms influence the embodiment of stress. A mixed methods biocultural approach is used here to explore lived experiences in a group of Indian Punjabi migrants (n=13) who resided in Auckland, New Zealand between four months and four years. The study documents common stressors in this group and the types of support that buffer physiological stress. Background information was collected from two ethnographic interviews conducted two weeks apart. During the intervening 14 day period, participants were asked to keep diaries and contribute saliva each day within 15 minutes of rising. Preliminary analysis used ethnographic data to assess cultural dimensions of support and contextualise stress experiences. From these, expectations concerning cortisol profiles were determined. Physiological stress response was measured using cortisol data derived from serial saliva samples and were analysed using mass spectrometry. Descriptive statistics (group median cortisol and range) were used to help interpret individual profiles, which were matched against qualitative narratives. This study shows the value of a biocultural approach using a mixed methods research design, and how it can contribute to understanding migrant experiences, providing a methodological foundation for future research.