Latina/es remain significantly underrepresented in executive leadership within psychology,and there is a critical need for research that examines their unique pathways throughculturally grounded and strengths-based perspectives. This study centers on the testimoniosof eight Latina/es to explore how they pursue, attain, and persist in executive leadershiproles in professional psychology. Interview questions addressed how participants'culturalvalues, experiences, and social identities shaped their career decisions and self-efficacy inthe context of executive leadership. Testimonio methodology informed by social cognitivecareer theory and critical Latinx theory was used to analyze the data. Five themes wereinterpreted from the data: familia as inspiration, Latina collective, mentors as bridges toself-efficacy, values guide vision, and resistance and perseverance. Findings show thatcultural assets fuel aspirations and foster retention in leadership positions. This study hasimplications for culturally responsive approaches to support Latina/es'career aspirationsand persistence in leadership roles.
Maternal mental health and parenting stress are robust predictors of child self-regulation, including executive function; however, few studies have examined the association among these variables in Latinx/e families. This study investigated whether maternal distress (a composite of maternal depression and parenting stress) was associated with parent-reported child executive function problems in a convenience sample of Latina mother-child dyads (N = 150). Results indicated that higher maternal distress was significantly associated with poorer child executive function, even after accounting for child age, sex, and maternal education. Path analyses further revealed that negative parenting behaviors partially accounted for this relationship. These findings suggest that even in a convenience sample of (relatively low-risk) Latina mothers, maternal mental health is meaningfully associated with parenting behaviors and child cognitive-emotional development. Our results support the importance of culturally responsive interventions that promote maternal well-being and reduce negative parenting in Latina families. We also call for future research to examine the role of cultural protective factors, such as ethnic identity and social support, in promoting maternal and child well-being in Latinx/e populations.
Parental behaviors may encourage the development and practice of self-compassionate behaviors, which may be used to navigate young adulthood-a time filled with instability and high stress. Utilizing a sample of 195 Latina college students (M-age = 23.24 years; range = 18-25; SD = 1.95; 67.4% Mexican origin), the present study explores the moderating role of Latinas' familismo values on the associations between parental warmth and psychological control and Latinas' self-kindness and self-judgment. To test our hypotheses, we conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses. We found that fathers' nativity status was positively associated with Latinas' self-judgment, indicating that self-judgment is higher for those whose fathers were born in the United States. Further, we found that perceived maternal and paternal psychological control was positively associated with self-judgment when Latinas reported low and high familismo values. However, this association was stronger for those who endorsed high familismo values. Our findings highlight that parenting behaviors remain important for Latinas during young adulthood. Particularly, our findings indicate that parental warmth is associated with self-kindness behaviors, and parental psychological control is associated with self-judgment behaviors in Latina young women. Our findings also suggest that familismo values do not protect Latinas against parental psychological control and self-judgment behaviors.
Latine Americans show a wide range of skin tones, which can influence how they are perceived and treated. While prior research links skin tone to discrimination among Latine individuals, few studies use quantitative methods that account for nonlinear effects. This study explores whether skin tone has a quadratic relationship with perceived Latine prototypicality and bias. In a survey of 421 self-identified Latine Americans, individuals with medium skin tones felt most prototypically Latine (inverted U-shaped relationship) and reported the least ingroup colorism (U-shaped relationship), while both lighter and darker skinned individuals felt less prototypical and experienced more colorism from other Latines. In contrast, skin tone was linearly related to outgroup discrimination, with darker skinned participants reporting more discrimination based on their Latine identity. Mediation analyses revealed that perceived prototypicality accounted for the relationship between skin tone and both forms of bias-but only for individuals with light- and medium-skinned tones. For the darkest skinned Latine participants, discrimination appeared to stem more directly from skin tone bias than from perceptions of how "Latine" they looked. These findings highlight the complexity of skin tone-based experiences within the Latine community and underscore the importance of considering both physical appearance and prototypicality in understanding bias and discrimination. Public Significance Statement Latine Americans have a wide range of physical appearances, but little research has looked at how these differences shape their experiences of bias. This study finds that skin tone plays a role in how Latine individuals see themselves and how they are treated-both by others in the Latine community and by society at large. While appearing "Latine" explains some of these experiences, it does not fully account for the higher levels of discrimination faced by the darkest skinned Latine individuals.
Latinx college students are at high risk for mental health challenges due to stress associated with navigating college life and race/ethnicity-related stressors such as ethnic-racial discrimination. Identifying protective factors that can buffer the negative impact of ethnic-racial discrimination is important to inform efforts aimed at promoting mental health among Latinx college students. This study examined the role of multiple protective factors across individual (emotion regulation), family (parent-child relationship), peer (friend support), and cultural (familism, ethnic identity) levels in moderating the associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and depressive and anxiety symptoms among Latinx college students. Data were drawn from 628 college students who self-identified as Hispanic/Latinx (77.7% female, Mage = 20.2, 80.2% Mexican origin) and enrolled full time at a large Hispanic-serving public university in the Southwestern United States. Students completed an online survey via Qualtrics. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that ethnic-racial discrimination experiences were associated with more depressive and anxiety symptoms. The associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and mental health outcomes were weaker among students reporting higher familism values and fewer emotion regulation difficulties. Parent-child relationship quality, peer support, and ethnic identity were negatively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms but did not moderate the associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and mental health outcomes. Findings highlight the continued need for systematic efforts to combat ethnic-racial discrimination. Promoting familism values and emotion regulation skills may be effective ways to mitigate the detrimental impact of ethnic-racial discrimination among Latinx college students.
Latine parents place an emphasis on education and often communicate messages that encourage academic success and school engagement (i.e., educational socialization; Hernandez et al., 2016; Hill & Torres, 2010). Educational socialization typically results in more positive academic and career outcomes (Rivas-Drake & Marchand, 2016), but how it relates to psychological outcomes has not been fully explored. Given that these messages tend to be rooted in Latine cultural values such as familism, adolescents' emotional responses may vary depending on how strongly they endorse these values. The present study investigated the moderating effect of familism values (i.e., support, obligation, and referent) on the association between parental educational socialization (i.e., future, effort, and shame) and Latine adolescent depressive symptoms. Utilizing cross-sectional data from 175 Latine adolescents (M-age = 12.89, SDage = 0.77; 51.7% girls, M-family income = $23,020.35, SDfamily income = $12,389.77), results indicated that parental effort and shame-based messages were associated with greater depressive symptoms. However, higher levels of supportive familism protected Latine youth from the detrimental influence of effort- and future-oriented educational messages and reported lower depressive symptoms. Likewise, higher levels of referent familism buffered the negative influence of effort-based socialization on depressive symptoms. In contrast, family obligation did not moderate the link between educational socialization and depressive symptoms, highlighting the distinct roles of different familism dimensions on adolescent well-being.
The present study examined the association of racial/ethnic discrimination with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, consistent with race-based traumatic stress theory (Carter, 2007), in a sample of 358 Latinx adults. Latent profile analysis was performed on participants' acculturation and enculturation data to create four profiles that represent qualitatively distinct acculturation strategies: Integration, Assimilation, Separation with U.S. Identification, and Marginalization. As predicted, racial/ethnic discrimination yielded a large positive association with PTSD symptoms. In partial support of acculturation theory (Berry, 2003), the Integration Profile reported lower PTSD symptoms than the Separation with U.S. Identification and Marginalization Profiles. Profile membership was also tested as a moderator of the discrimination-PTSD symptom association. Relative to the Integration Profile, the Marginalization Profile reported greater PTSD symptoms until levels of racial/ethnic discrimination were high. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of latent profile analysis at capturing the interplay of acculturation and enculturation processes among Latinx people. Moreover, the results suggest that assessing racial/ethnic discrimination and acculturation strategies may help identify Latinx people who are at particular risk for PTSD symptoms.
Despite the growing population of Hispanic/Latine immigrants in the United States, little is known concerning the potential impact of involvement in immigration proceedings on mental health outcomes. Gaining a better understanding of the mental health needs of individuals undergoing immigration proceedings is essential in informing clinical practice with these individuals. Using archival data from a study of 323 community members presumed to be involved in immigration proceedings, the aim of the present study was to use latent profile analysis to determine if individuals facing immigration court proceedings fell into different subgroups based on their psychological symptoms, as measured by the 10 Personality Assessment Screener element scores. After using latent profile analysis to identify subgroups, we examined how they differed on demographic characteristics (i.e., age of arrival, duration of time spent in the United States, and immigration status), acculturation, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. We identified a four-class model based on severity and type of psychopathology-moderate to marked risk (Class 1), marked suicidal thinking (Class 2), high alienation and withdrawal (Class 3), and mild risk (Class 4). There were significant differences between the four profile subgroups in terms of posttraumatic stress disorder symptomology, but no differences for acculturation or background variables. Our findings provide novel insight into the mental health needs of Hispanic/Latine immigrants involved in immigration proceedings and highlight the need for further research to inform intervention strategies.
This study examined how cultural stress mediates the relationship between ethnic identity and mental health distress among Puerto Rican parent-youth dyads who migrated to the mainland United States after Hurricane Maria. We used a longitudinal actor-partner interdependence mediation model to test direct and indirect effects between ethnic identity (Wave 1), cultural stress (Wave 2), and mental health (Wave 3). Given our small sample, we used factor scores instead of latent variables to summarize observed constructs, reducing model complexity and conserving statistical power. Factor scores were derived using factor analysis on depressive symptoms, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder to represent the latent mental health construct. These scores served as input in our actor-partner interdependence mediation model. Results showed significant actor effects: Youth ethnic identity predicted their own cultural stress, and cultural stress predicted mental health distress for both youth and parents. Partner effects revealed that youth cultural stress was associated with parents' mental health. Mediation analyses revealed two significant indirect effects: (a) Youth ethnic identity was associated with parent mental health through youth cultural stress, and (b) youth ethnic identity was associated with their own mental health through youth cultural stress. Findings underscore the importance of youth experiences in shaping family mental health outcomes in the context of cultural stress and postdisaster migration.
Preliminary evidence suggests that the stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the entire family system, necessitating a family-wide and culturally sensitive approach to understanding its impact. Little is known regarding the nuanced associations between pandemic stressors and the mental health of parents and youth, particularly among ethnic minority communities. In this study, we examine low-income Latine families, who were adversely affected by the pandemic, exploring within-dyad associations between subtypes of pandemic stressors with mental health. Youth (ages 8-17) and their mothers (Mage = 41.03 years) were followed from prepandemic to during the pandemic, completing measures of mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression) and pandemic stress. Findings revealed domain specificity of associations, suggesting that the pandemic was differentially linked with depression and anxiety for youth and mothers. Further, our data revealed evidence of partner effects of mothers' pandemic stressors (previous COVID-19 infection, risk of contracting COVID-19, financial and physical impact) on youth depression, as well as partner effects of youths' and mothers' pandemic stressors. Findings reveal a complex pattern of interrelations between youth and mother stress exposure and mental health during this time, providing directions for prevention/intervention efforts for underserved populations during global crises.
A growing body of research suggests that psychological and sociocultural factors are associated with racial dating preferences. However, to our knowledge, no study has yet examined how these factors may be associated with Latinx adults' dating preferences, a group that comprises a sizable population of the United States. Thus, the present study examined how three forms of parental socialization (i.e., cultural socialization, promotion of mistrust, and preparation for bias), resistance and empowerment against racism, and ethnic identity are associated with dating preferences and physical attraction across the four racial categories: Asian, Black, Latinx, and White. A sample of 223 Latinx adults living in the United States completed an online survey. Path analyses revealed that among the parental socialization variables, cultural socialization was positively associated with physical attraction toward Latinx individuals, preparation for bias was positively associated with dating preference toward Latinx individuals, and promotion of mistrust was negatively associated with dating preference toward Asian, Black, White, and Latinx individuals, and negatively associated with physical attraction toward Asian and Latinx individuals. Resistance and empowerment against racism was positively associated with a dating preference toward Black individuals and physical attraction toward Asian and Black individuals. Ethnic identity was positively associated with physical attraction to fellow Latinx individuals. Results of this study highlight the complex ways in which Latinx adults' socialization of and feelings toward their race/ethnicity can affect which racial groups they date and feel attracted toward.
Latinx individuals face significant tobacco-related disparities, particularly in cessation care. In particular, little is known about barriers and facilitators of quitting smoking among Spanish-preferring Latinx. This study examined the perspectives of Latinxs who smoke and have psychological distress regarding the factors influencing their smoking and quitting behaviors and experiences with cessation treatment. A cross-sectional, exploratory multi-method study included 18 Latinx adults who smoke and completed a questionnaire on demographics, tobacco use, and mental health, followed by a semi-structured interview. Participants' responses (N=18) were analyzed using a deductive-inductive thematic analyses approach organized with the Dedoose software. Participants' ages ranged from 24-61 years (M=39.63, SD=9.89); 68.5% were employed part-time or full-time, and 37.5% reported financial strain. Themes were organized according to the various levels of the Socioecological model: (1) Intrapersonal (psychological distress, addiction, health concerns, personal attributes); (2) Interpersonal (stigma, external pressures, social support); (3) Organizational (preferences related to treatment content, format, delivery and frequency), (4) Community (familismo), and (5) Social/Policy (second hand smoke reduction and prevention among youth). Participants had little to no experience with cessation treatment. Findings were generally consistent with the limited existent literature on smoking motivation and cessation among Spanish-preferring Latinxs and expand previous work by highlighting potential treatment targets in the development and/or adaptation of culturally relevant interventions for this group.
Parental academic socialization plays an important role in the education of Latinx adolescents. Such socialization often emphasizes the need for making an effort in school, which may inform youths' perceptions of the utility of education for their future. This study addresses two questions: (a) Are there developmental changes in Latinx adolescents' perceptions of academic utility over time? and (b) How does immigrant parents' academic socialization predict these trajectories? Data were collected longitudinally from a community-based sample of Latinx families (145 parents; 132 foreign-born; 79.3% female; 35.2% undocumented; 145 adolescents; 22 foreign-born; 53.1% female; mean age of 13.54 years). Results showed that parental academic socialization messages have different impacts on youth's perceptions of educational utility. Messages that encourage academic success while maintaining a positive sense of self were associated with greater perceptions of limitations of education at the start of the study. However, it was also linked to less steep increases in perceptions of limitations of education over the 3-year study period. This study sheds light on the importance of parental academic socialization in shaping Latinx youth's perceptions of educational usefulness over time. Findings have implications for researchers examining parental socialization and adolescent development, educators supporting the growing Latinx youth population, and parents seeking to enhance their children's academic success.
Achieving health equity for U.S. Latinas requires a better understanding of how cultural factors influence mental health, especially during life transitions. This study examined one cultural factor, familism, in relation to depressive symptoms and stress among U.S. and foreign-born Latinas during early parenting. We also tested whether associations varied by nativity. Data were drawn from a sample of 420 U.S.- and foreign-born Latina mothers participating in a large, multisite, community-based study in the US. Familism was measured at 12 months postpartum across three facets: (a) family obligations, (b) family as a source of support, and (c) family as referents. Depressive symptoms and perceived stress were measured at 12 and 18 months after birth using standardized scales. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that one year after the birth of a child, higher familism was associated with lower depressive symptoms and lower perceived stress. Six months later, only the family support facet of familism remained significantly associated with lower perceived stress, but not with lower depressive symptoms. U.S.-born Latinas endorsed lower levels of familism compared to foreign-born Latinas. Moderation analyses showed that familism was associated with lower perceived stress at 18 months after birth among U.S.-born Latinas, but not among foreign-born Latinas. Familism may play a protective role against depression and stress in the early parenting period, particularly for U.S.-born Latina mothers. These findings highlight the importance of Latinx culture as a potential source of resilience and can inform efforts to improve mental health among childbearing Latinas.
Mexican Americans are a notable segment of the U.S. population and are affected by unique contextual factors such as their immigration history, cultural values, and religious experiences. While shame is a common experience among survivors of sexual violence (MacGinley et al., 2019), there is limited research examining the experience of shame in Mexican American survivors of sexual violence. This study sought to develop a qualitative understanding of the experience of shame among second-generation Mexican American women who are survivors of sexual violence while considering how cultural context shapes their experience of shame. Ten second-generation Mexican American survivors participated in semistructured interviews. Conventional content analysis yielded seven broad clusters: (a) influence of immigration and cultural context on shame, (b) shame pervades daily functioning, (c) relational impacts of shame, (d) impact of shame on disclosure, (e) effects of marianismo on shame after sexual violence, (f) healing from shame, and (g) challenges to healing from shame. Results indicated that the effects of shame are pervasive across multiple areas of survivors' lives, religious and cultural messages foster a context of shame, and survivors' healing process is shaped by their bicultural context.
In infancy and toddlerhood, caregivers are responsible for externally coregulating their children's emotions and physiology through their responses to emotional arousal. These caregiving behaviors influence toddlers' emotion regulation, which impacts long-term physical, academic, cognitive, and socioemotional development. Though caregiving responses are culturally embedded, limited research has explored how cultural norms influence Mexican American mothers' emotion socialization behaviors. This study examined how mothers' Mexican heritage cultural values (i.e., familismo, respeto, religiosity, and traditional gender roles) predicted their supportive and suppressive responses to toddlers' negative emotions. Participants included 145 Mexican American mothers (M = 25.85 years, SD = 5.41) living with their toddlers (M = 18.33 months, SD = 2.10) in Northern California. Mothers reported significantly more supportive than suppressive reactions to negative emotions. Valuing familismo was associated with more supportive responses, whereas valuing respeto was associated with more suppressive responses. Traditional gender role values were associated with less supportive and more suppressive responses, with no significant differences based on the child's sex. Findings underscore the powerful role of cultural values in shaping how Mexican American mothers respond to their toddlers' emotions, which may lay the groundwork for children's long-term socioemotional development.
The present study had two aims: (a) to take a person-centered approach and identify profiles of assets that include active coping, bicultural competency, and preparation for bias, among Latinx adolescents, and (b) examine the relations between asset profiles and Latinx adolescents' school functioning and mental health. The present study used cross-sectional data from 201 middle school students (M = 12.35, SD = 1.05). Latent profile analysis was used to identify unique profiles, and a classify-analyze approach was taken to examine differences in school belonging, grades, and depressive symptoms by profile membership. Five unique profiles emerged, the average competencies-low bias preparation; high competencies-low bias preparation; average assets; high assets; and average to low competencies-high bias preparation profiles. The ANCOVAs showed adolescents' school belonging and depressive symptoms differed by profile membership, no differences were found for grades. Latinx adolescents rely on both universal and ethnic-cultural assets to support school belonging and mental health (i.e., lower depressive symptoms).
Latinx trans and nonbinary community members experience disparate psychological and physical negative health outcomes due to cisnormativity within Latinx cultural spaces and the oppression experienced within wider society. However, there is a dearth in literature regarding the process through which marginalized individuals come into a more liberated and wellness-inducing understanding of themselves and their communities, especially outside of the therapy room. Guided by liberation psychology theory, this qualitative study explored the process through which five Latinx nonbinary individuals identified and transformed cisnormative messages into liberated understandings of themselves and their communities. We used Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the subset of lifeline interviews collected as part of a larger parent study, Project Affirm, from the participants who identified as nonbinary Latinx individuals. We constructed three themes: (a) experiencing and internalizing pervasive oppressive contexts, (b) engaging in transformative internal and external experiences or "switch points," and (c) accessing liberative experiences and contexts. More specifically, all five participants identified instances in which pervasive oppressive contexts facilitated the internalization of cisnormativity and how access to liberative contexts increased their ability to resist cisnormativity. For all participants, transformative internal or external experiences, or switch points, initiated decisions through which they responded to pervasive oppressive contexts in new ways, which led to building and experiencing more liberative contexts. This study answers several calls to widen the scope of practice to include oppressive social determinants of health. Practitioners and educators' understanding of the cyclical and iterative process of uninternalizing cisnormativity in Latinx nonbinary individuals is necessary for culturally responsive practice, education, and research.
Latines in the United States have historically underutilized formal mental health services, despite demonstrating an increased risk for a variety of mental health challenges, even compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Queer individuals, on the other hand, are overrepresented in mental health treatment settings, while still having higher rates of mental health difficulties compared to their heterosexual counterparts. With the exponential increase in population among Latines, there has also been an increase in Latines, who identify as queer. However, few studies have explored the specific barriers and facilitators that queer Latines, a doubly marginalized community, may encounter when deciding whether to seek formal services or not. The present study investigated the barriers and facilitators to formal mental health help seeking in a sample of 30 self-identifying queer Latines (M-age = 24.5) with a variety of gender identities and sexualities using semistructured interviews. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we developed three overarching themes that discuss barriers and facilitators to formal help seeking and experiences with mental health providers. Barriers included both cultural norms and systemic barriers that might affect the decision to seek services. The last theme emphasized participants' dissatisfaction with therapists that would not understand either their queer and/or Latine identity. Results showcased the specific barriers and facilitators for this population while underscoring the importance of cultural humility and competence that therapists need to have to appropriately treat queer Latines. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.
Latinx in the United States reported increased mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, a global event that complicated how people processed bereavement and grief by limiting participation in funerals. Funerals are important rituals for Latinx because they provide the grieving with an opportunity to say farewell to a loved one. Currently, there is a lack of research on the associations between funeral attendance and satisfaction, and grief, mental health, and well-being among Latinx in the United States during the pandemic. To address this gap, we conducted a study using a cross-sectional quantitative survey with a sample of Latinx adults (n = 263, 80% women, 85% Mexican origin, 74% Latinx of Color) recruited in two university locations and across community events in Arizona. We found that higher levels of funeral satisfaction, but not funeral attendance, were associated with higher levels of well-being, lower levels of grief and anxiety symptoms, and less drinking frequency, even after accounting for race, age, sex, immigrant generation, and education. These findings have important implications for policy, research, and interventions centering bereaved Latinx in Arizona.
