The Longitudinal Associations Between Discrimination, Depressive Symptoms, and Prosocial Behaviors in U.S. Latino/a Recent Immigrant Adolescents

Abstract

The links between discrimination and adjustment in U.S. Latino/a immigrant adolescents is an important but understudied phenomenon. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations (across 1 year) among discrimination, prosocial behaviors, and depressive symptoms in U.S. Latino immigrant adolescents using two competing models: associations between discrimination and prosocial behaviors via depressive symptoms (mental health strain model), and associations between discrimination and depressive symptoms via prosocial behaviors (prosociality strain model). Participants were 302 Latino/a recent immigrant adolescents (53.3 % boys, M age = 14.51 years at Time 1, SD = .88 years) who completed measures of discrimination, depressive symptoms, and prosocial behaviors at 6-month intervals. The results provided support for both proposed models. The discussion examines the importance of prosocial behaviors in understanding adjustment and effects of discrimination among recently immigrated U.S. Latino adolescents.

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Mental Health: a Review and Future Directions for Social Epidemiology

“…Regression analysis was primarily used, but some employed more sophisticated methods, such as latent class analysis and latent profile analysis to create categories of various exposure variables, including discriminatory experience, cultural stressors, and coping styles [22,28,30,31,44,45]. Techniques were employed by some studies to examine potential intermediary pathways between discrimination and mental health, such as through depressive symptoms or anxiety [19,24,43,46], avoidant coping strategies [33,47], trans diagnostic factors [48], general stress [40], stronger belief in an unjust world [49], acculturation-related and social support variables [13,50,51], anger [46], prosocial behavior [33], and perfectionism [52]. Other studies employed mediation techniques to examine if discrimination was on the pathway between a more upstream exposure, such as childhood adversity [53], historical trauma [28], a perpetual foreigner stereotype [37], white composition of one’s environment [29], critical ethnic awareness [50], and nativity [54], and a mental health outcome.…”

Perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among US Latinos: the modifying role of educational attainment

“…A growing body of literature has documented the mental health effects of discrimination in Latino populations specifically (Finch, Kolody, and Vega 2000; Flores et al 2008; Gee et al 2006; Basáñez et al 2013; Behnke et al 2011; Cano et al 2016; Davis et al 2016; Delgado et al 2011; Roblyer et al 2016). Our results support the findings of these prior studies, which suggest that Latinos in the US may be particularly vulnerable to discrimination’s adverse effects on mental health due to the multiple avenues by which discrimination may enter their daily lives.…”

Mental Health and School Functioning for Girls in the Child Welfare System: the Mediating Role of Future Orientation and School Engagement

“…This is consistent with previous studies that have shown that depression is predictive of later erosion in social support among adolescent girls, possibly because depressed individuals tend to engage in behaviors such as constantly seeking reassurance that may lead to peer rejection (Stice, Ragan, & Randall, 2004). Additionally, depressive symptoms may lead to a depletion of cognitive and emotional resources and a subsequent withdrawal from social relationships (Davis et al, 2016). Similarly, behaviors associated with PTSD symptoms, such as aggression, may undermine supportive relationships in school (Kendra, Bell, & Guimond, 2012).…”