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. 2015 Sep;203(9):670-8.
doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000350.

Mental Health and Exposure to the United States: Key Correlates from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos

Krista M Perreira  1 , Nathan Gotman, Carmen R Isasi, William Arguelles, Sheila F Castañeda, Martha L Daviglus, Aida L Giachello, Patricia Gonzalez, Frank J Penedo, Hugo Salgado, Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller
Affiliations

Mental Health and Exposure to the United States: Key Correlates from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos

Krista M Perreira et al. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

We examined the association between exposure to the U.S. and symptoms of poor mental health among adult Hispanic/Latinos (N = 15,004) overall and by Hispanic/Latino background. Using data from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), we estimated logistic regressions to model the risk of moderate to severe symptoms of psychological distress, depression, and anxiety as a function of years in the U.S. and six key psychosocial risk and protective factors. In unadjusted models, increased time in the U.S. was associated with higher risk of poor mental health. After adjustment for just three key factors--perceived discrimination, perceived U.S. social standing, and the size of close social networks--differences in the odds of poor mental health by years in the U.S became insignificant for Hispanics/Latinos overall. However, analyses by Hispanic/Latino background revealed different patterns of association with exposure to the U.S. that could not be fully explained.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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