Associations between Cultural Stressors, Cultural Values, and Latina/o College Students' Mental Health.
Latina/o college students experience cultural stressors that negatively impact their mental health, which places them at risk for academic problems. We explored whether cultural values buffer the negative effect of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms in a sample of 198 Latina/o college students (70 % female; 43 % first generation college students). Bivariate results revealed significant positive associations between cultural stressors (i.e., acculturative stress, discrimination) and mental health symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depressive, psychological stress), and negative associations between cultural values of familismo, respeto, and religiosity and mental health symptoms. Several cultural values moderated the influence of cultural stressors on mental health symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of helping Latina/o college students remain connected to their families and cultural values as a way of promoting their mental health.
Department of Psychology Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA. racorona@vcu.edu.
Rosalie
R
Corona
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 641 Lexington Ave., 7th Floor, New York, NY, 10022, USA.
Vivian M
VM
Rodríguez
School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 Floyd Avenue, Third Floor, P.O. Box 842027, Richmond, VA, 23284-2027, USA.
Shelby E
SE
McDonald
Department of Psychology Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA.
Efren
E
Velazquez
Department of Psychology Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA.
Adriana
A
Rodríguez
Department of Psychology Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA.
Vanessa E
VE
Fuentes
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Cultural stressors; Cultural values; Latina/o young adults; Mental health