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Cultural Stress, Emotional well-being, and Health Risk Behaviors among Recent Immigrant Latinx families: The Moderating Role of Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics

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Abstract

Latinx families can experience cultural stressors, which can negatively influence their emotional and behavioral health. Few studies have examined if perceived neighborhood characteristics buffer against or exacerbate the negative effects of cultural stress on adolescent and parent health outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, this study investigated how parent (social cohesion, informal social control, extent of problems) and adolescent (support) perceived neighborhood factors moderated the associations of parent and adolescent cultural stress with parent and adolescent emotional and behavioral well-being. Data came from waves 1 and 3 of a six-wave longitudinal survey with 302 recent immigrant Latinx adolescents (47% female, Mage = 14.51 years) and their parents (74% mothers, Mage = 41.09 years). Results indicated that when parents reported low levels of neighborhood problems, adolescent cultural stress did not predict adolescent health risk behaviors. However, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher levels of adolescents’ sense of hope when parents perceived low levels of neighborhood problems. Furthermore, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted higher youth depressive symptoms and health risk behaviors when positive neighborhood factors (informal social control, social cohesion) were high. Similarly, adolescent and parent cultural stress predicted lower adolescents’ sense of hope and self-esteem when positive neighborhood factors were high. These findings indicate that efforts to reduce the negative effects of cultural stress on youth emotional and behavioral health may benefit from combating neighborhood problems. Results further indicate that research is needed to clarify unexpected findings. Directions for future research are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Latinx is a gender-neutral alternative to Latino, Latina, and Latina/o. It is used by scholars, activists, and national associations. It is part of a linguistic revolution to move beyond gender binaries and be inclusive of the intersecting identities of Latin American descendants. In addition to boys, girls, men, and women, Latinx makes room for people who identify as trans, queer, agender, non-binary, gender non-conforming or gender fluid (Santos 2017).

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Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Grant DA025694). It was also supported by the National Institute of Health/Fogarty International Center (Grant # 3R01TW009274-04S1).

Authors' contributions

E.L.B. conceived the study, participated in its design, conducted analyses, interpreted the data, and wrote up the results, and other parts of the manuscript. A.M. assisted with the design, data analysis and manuscript preparation. M.A.C., J.S., S.D.R. assisted with study conceptualization, manuscript preparation, and interpretation of findings. J.B. and S.J.S. designed the survey study, oversaw data collection, helped with the conceptualization of the study, assisted with the interpretation of findings and manuscript preparation. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available and will not be deposited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco

  2. Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Alan Meca

  3. Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

    Jennifer B. Unger

  4. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    José Szapocznik

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Miguel Ángel Cano

  6. Department of Psychology, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL, 33161, USA

    Sabrina E. Des Rosiers

  7. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz

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  1. Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco
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Correspondence to Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco.

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Lorenzo-Blanco, E.I., Meca, A., Unger, J.B. et al. Cultural Stress, Emotional well-being, and Health Risk Behaviors among Recent Immigrant Latinx families: The Moderating Role of Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics. J Youth Adolescence 48, 114–131 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0907-5

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