Reviewer’s report
Title: 
A pathway to negative acculturation: Marital maladjustment mediates the relationship between the
length of residency and depressive symptoms in immigrant women in Taiwan
Version: 
1 
Date: 
23 Feb 2021
Reviewer's report:
"PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS: 
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses one or several testable
research questions? (Brief or other article types: is there a clear objective?)
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for the
objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with sufficient technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
No - there are minor issues
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
No - there are issues with the statistics in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Has the author addressed your concerns sufficiently for you to
now recommend the work as a technically sound contribution? If not, can further revisions be made to
make the work technically sound?
Probably - with minor revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS: 
GENERAL COMMENTS: To a large extent, the authors have responded to the queries from the previous
reviewers. However, there are 
few issues that may have to be addressed to improve the technical contents
of the paper.
REQUESTED REVISIONS: 
Acculturation should be a single variable combining both language proficiency and years in Taiwan.
Therefore, a single index should emerge from this combination and the approach used for the creation
should be succinctly explained in the paper. Using the two variables separately as presently observed in the
paper may misinform the audience. If this is the case, the word acculturation may have to be expunged
completely from the paper and replaced with "language proficiency and length of stay in Taiwan".
To obtain a clear reflection of how each category of the sociodemographic characteristics influences
depressive symptoms, I suggest that a class of generalized linear model be used to achieve the purpose.
For instance, as for other variables, it is expedient to have a comparison of the depressive symptoms
among those who are currently married and previously married (widowed & divorced).
Framework on page 32: "Acculturation (Years in Taiwan)" Does it mean that years in Taiwan was the only
variable used for the measurement of acculturation? Acculturation is a process of social, psychological,
and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture
of the society. Therefore, length of stay (Years in Taiwan) is not a sufficient means of measuring this
variable, other measurement indicators will have to be included.
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS: 
The introduction is still lengthy. The section should be concise and channeled directly towards the main
focus of the study. A strong migration theory amidst other theories should be reviewed and used to
establish the interrelationship between the outcome variable and the main mediating factor. It would also
do the paper a great benefit if a conceptual framework is included.
Excerpts: "We used language proficiency and years in Taiwan as two indicators of the acculturation of
immigrant women" The authors should include Mandarin language in the sentence.
Excerpts: "Participants who obtained a score of 4-8 were classified as having low language proficiency,
and those who obtained a score of 9-12 were classified as having high language proficiency" What
informed this classification? This I think should be supported with literature.
The age category used in the paper is not informative, therefore, I suggest that the authors revert to 20-24,
25-34, and 35+ which demographically represents the youths, young adults, and older adults respectively."
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Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use of appropriate controls),
and are the conclusions supported by the evidence presented?
Yes
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
No
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
Yes
Is the presentation of the work clear?
Yes
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free from apparent
manipulation?
Yes