Latino Youth Coping with Discrimination: A Multi-Level Investigation in Micro- and Macro-Time

Exposure to discrimination-related stressors (e.g., racial/ethnic discrimination, unfair treatment) has negative effects on the health and wellbeing of minority populations. In partnership with University of Notre Dame, Fordham University and Indiana University, this project aims to improve the mental health of Latinx youth by understanding the deleterious effects of racism, “othering” and negative neighborhood interactions. Our hypothesis is that this link will be mediated by cognitive and/or affective mechanisms (i.e., anger, hypervigilance) and moderated by coping resources (parental adaptation and racial socialization) and support at the neighborhood, peer and family levels. Our project builds upon previous studies on discrimination-related stressors and mental health in Latinx youth and includes community-based collaboration to include a broad sample of Mexican-origin youth and parents.

Our specific aims are as follows:

Aim 1: Determine within-person discrimination-related stressors that impact Mexican-American youth mental health outcomes and the mechanisms of action at both micro- and macro-time levels.

 Aim 2: Identify protective factors that could help youth to successfully cope with discrimination-related stressors and the conditions under which those protective factors work.

Aim 3: Elucidate the youth, parent, and neighborhood risk factors that moderate the link between discrimination-related stressors and mental health outcomes in youth.

Funding Acknowledgement: This project is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Grant Number 1R01MD014737-01A1.