Discrimination and Mental Health in Latino Families: Mediators and Moderators

说明(由申请人提供)：遭受种族/民族歧视一直与心理和身体健康状况不佳有关。然而，歧视和健康之间的联系背后的机制仍然不清楚。此外，暴露于歧视对心理健康的压力影响的潜在调和者尚未明确确定，特别是在研究不足的群体中，如拉丁裔青少年。拟议的研究将通过调查12-17岁的墨西哥裔青少年中感受到的种族/民族歧视来解决文献中的这些空白。这项拟议的研究有三个具体目标：(1)测试有助于解释墨西哥裔青少年中种族/民族歧视与心理健康之间联系的调解机制(侧重于愤怒调节)；(2)确定影响墨西哥裔青少年中种族/民族歧视与心理健康之间联系的应对策略(例如，种族认同；社会支持)。(3)评估家庭环境和社会文化背景因素(如性别、出生状况、族裔社会化)在多大程度上增加或减少种族/族裔歧视对青少年心理健康的不利影响。为了实现这些研究目标，我们将对印第安纳州北部地区的N=270个墨西哥裔家庭进行一项基于社区的纵向调查。数据将通过与青少年的音频计算机管理的自我访谈(ACASI)方法和与父母的面对面访谈来收集。青少年将每隔6个月在三个测量场合接受调查，而父母将在第一个时间点接受调查。我们将评估种族/民族歧视、情绪调节、愤怒表达/压抑、文化适应/文化融合程度、文化适应压力、民族认同发展、文化取向和价值观、种族/民族/文化社会化做法，以及心理健康。小组内的方法将使我们能够仔细研究文化影响和精神障碍韧性和脆弱性来源的变化，纵向设计将使我们能够测试随时间变化的调解和缓和效果，以更好地确定影响的顺序。这项拟议的研究具有重要意义，因为它促进了我们对以下方面的理解：(1)有助于解释歧视和精神障碍之间联系的关键中介机制；(2)潜在的缓和因素，可以缓冲或加剧歧视对这一研究不足人群的心理健康的影响。该项目与公众相关 心理健康，因为它有可能在歧视与心理健康的联系中确定解释机制以及可延展的风险和复原力因素。这将有助于制定更有针对性和对文化敏感的干预措施，减轻种族主义对拉美裔青年心理健康的不利影响，从而有助于缩小健康差距。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination has been consistently associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying the link between discrimination and health are still unclear. In addition, potential moderators of the stressful impact of exposure to discrimination on mental health have yet to be clearly identified, particularly within underresearched groups such as Latino adolescents. The proposed study will address these gaps in the literature by investigating perceived racial/ethnic discrimination among Mexican-origin adolescents 12-17 years old. The proposed study has three specific aims: (1) To test mediating mechanisms (focusing on anger regulation) that help explain the link between racial/ethnic discrimination and mental health in Mexican-origin adolescents; (2) To identify coping strategies (e.g., ethnic identity; social support) that influence the link between racial/ethnic discrimination and mental health in Mexican-origin adolescents. (3) To assess the degree to which the family environment and sociocultural context factors (e.g., gender, nativity status, ethnic socialization) increase or decrease the adverse effect of racial/ethnic discrimination on adolescents' mental health. To achieve these study aims, we will conduct a longitudinal community-based survey of N = 270 Mexican- origin families in the northern Indiana region. Data will be collected using an audio computer administered self- interview (ACASI) approach with adolescents and face-to-face interviews with parents. Adolescents will be surveyed across three measurement occasions at 6-month intervals, whereas parents will be surveyed at the first time point. We will assess racial/ethnic discrimination, emotion regulation, anger expression/suppression, acculturation/enculturation levels, acculturative stress, ethnic identity development, cultural orientation and values, racial/ethnic/cultural socialization practices, and mental health. The within-group approach will allow us to carefully study cultural influences and variations in sources of resilience and vulnerability vis-¿-vis mental disorders, and the longitudinal design wil enable us to test mediation and moderation effects across time to better determine sequence of effects. The proposed study is significant because it advances our understanding of: (1) key mediating mechanisms that help explain the link between discrimination and mental disorder; and, (2) potential moderating factors that can either buffer or exacerbate the impact of discrimination on mental health in this understudied population. This project is relevant to public health as it has the potential to identify explanatory mechanisms, as well as malleable risk and resilience factors, in the discrimination-mental health link. This will aid in the development of more targeted and culturally-sensitive interventions that can mitigate the detrimental impact of racism on the mental health of Latino youth and thus, help reduce health disparities.