The Relationship Between Latinxs' Acculturative Experiences and Mental and Behavioral Disorder in the National Latino and Asian American Study

Abstract

Mental and behavioral disorders are among the leading contributors to disability among US-residing Latinxs. When treated as a homogeneous group, important disparities in the prevalence of such disorders among Latinx subgroups (e.g., by ethnic heritage) are obscured. However, Latinxs may also be characterized by their acculturative experiences while living in the USA, such as discrimination, neighborhood context and family conflict. Latent Profile Analysis with distal outcomes was used to estimate differences in psychiatric disorder prevalence across acculturative subgroups. Data from 2,541 Latinx participants (age 18 +) in the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) were used to estimate differences in the proportion of three categories of DSM-IV disorder: depressive, anxiety and substance use by four latent subgroups of Latinxs based on their acculturative experiences. Latinxs reporting more positive acculturative experiences had the lowest prevalence of all three disorders (14.8%, 13.6% and 7.1%, respectively). Those whose lives were characterized by high levels of family conflict and discrimination combined with low levels of social cohesion and neighborhood safety had the highest disorder prevalence (34.0%, 26.6% and 22.5%; all p < 0.01 compared to positive experiences subgroup). Latinxs with moderate levels of discrimination and conflict, along with those with high conflict and cohesion, were better off as compared to those with high negative experiences and low cohesion. These latent subgroups of Latinxs according to their acculturative experiences hold important implications for identifying high-risk groups for developing a psychiatric disorder. Findings also point to the protective role of family and neighborhood cohesion when facing high levels of adversity, which may inform prevention and intervention efforts.

Keywords: Acculturation; Immigration; Latent profile analysis; Latinos; Mental health.

Fig. 1

Proportion with Lifetime Depressive, Anxiety, and Substance Use Disorder by Latent Profiles