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. 2024 Apr;30(2):349-362.
doi: 10.1037/cdp0000570. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, and sexual risk among Latinx emerging adults: Examining moderation effects of familism support and ethnic identity

Angela R Fernandez  1 , Daisy Ramírez-Ortiz  2 , Melody M García-Torres  3 , Maichou Lor  1 , Jeneile Luebke  1 , Miguel Ángel Cano  2 , David Cordova  4
Affiliations

Ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, and sexual risk among Latinx emerging adults: Examining moderation effects of familism support and ethnic identity

Angela R Fernandez et al. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: Ethnic discrimination and acculturative stress play an important role in sexual risk behaviors for Latinx emerging adults, who are at disproportionate risk for sexually transmitted infections. Factors such as familism support and ethnic identity may be protective, yet research is limited. This study is guided by a culturally adapted stress and coping framework to examine associations of ethnic discrimination and acculturative stress with sexual risk behaviors (i.e., multiple sex partners, alcohol or drug use before sex, and condomless sex with a primary or casual partner), and examine the moderating roles of familism support and ethnic identity among Latinx emerging adults.

Method: Participants were recruited from Arizona and Florida and were primarily female (51.3%) with a mean age of 21.48 years (SD = 2.06). Using cross-sectional data from 158 sexually active Latinx emerging adults, this study employed multiple logistic regression and moderation analyses.

Results: Higher levels of ethnic discrimination and pressure to acculturate were associated with fewer sex partners, and higher levels of pressure against acculturation were associated with increased condomless sex with a casual partner. The moderation effect of higher levels of familism support on pressure to acculturate was associated with fewer sex partners, and the moderation effect of higher levels of ethnic identity on pressure against acculturation was associated with decreased condomless sex with casual partners.

Conclusions: Examining the results within a culturally informed theoretical framework supports that protective factors may help mitigate sexual risk factors among Latinx emerging adults experiencing acculturative stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Culturally Adapted Stress-Coping Model Applied to Sexual Risk Behavior Among Latinx Emerging Adults. Model adapted from and etiological model of historical trauma theory model applied to Mexican Americans in United States (Estrada, 2009), which as originally adapted from an Indigenist Stress-Coping Model Adapted from “Substance Use Among American Indians and Alaska Natives: Incorporating Culture in an ‘Indigenist’ Stress-Coping Paradigm,” by K. L. Walters, J.M. Simoni, and T. Evans-Campbell, 2002, Public Health Reports, 117 Suppl 1, p. S106 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12435834/). Copyright 2002 by SAGE Publications.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of Familism Support Score on Association Between Pressure to Acculturate and Multiple Sex Partners
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) Scores on Association Between Pressure Against Acculturation and Condomless Sex with Casual Partner(s)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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