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

Alexandra N Davis; Gustavo Carlo; Seth J Schwartz; Jennifer B Unger; Byron L Zamboanga; Elma I Lorenzo-Blanco; Miguel Ángel Cano; Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati; Assaf Oshri; Cara Streit; Miriam M Martinez; Brandy Piña-Watson; Karina Lizzi; Daniel Soto

doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0394-x

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

J Youth Adolesc. 2016 Mar;45(3):457-70. doi: 10.1007/s10964-015-0394-x. Epub 2015 Nov 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ University of Missouri, 314 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA. andm9d@mail.missouri.edu.
² University of Missouri, 410 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
³ Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1120 N.W. 14th Street, 10th Floor, Miami, FL, 33136, USA.
⁴ Institute for Prevention Research (IPR), University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto Street, 3rd Floor, MC 9239, SSB 302P, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
⁵ Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063, USA.
⁶ Barnwell College, University of South Carolina, Room 461, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
⁷ Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC 5-488, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
⁸ University of South Carolina, SSB 302K, 2001 N Soto Street, Suite 201-D, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
⁹ University of Georgia, 208 Family Science Center, 305 Sanford Drive, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
¹⁰ University of Missouri, 314 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
¹¹ Texas Tech University, MS 2051 Psychological Sciences Building, Lubbock, TX, 79409-2051, USA.
¹² InVentiv Health Clinical, 504 Carnegie Center, Princeton, NJ, 08543, USA.
¹³ Krek School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1975 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.

PMID: 26597783
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-015-0394-x

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.

Keywords: Depressive symptoms; Discrimination; Prosocial behaviors; U.S. Latina/o youth.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Acculturation
Adolescent
Cuba / ethnology
Depression / psychology*
Emigrants and Immigrants / psychology*
Female
Hispanic or Latino / psychology*
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mexico / ethnology
Models, Psychological
Sex Factors
Social Behavior*
Social Discrimination / psychology*
United States

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding