TY - JOUR
T1 - Hoping for a better tomorrow
T2 - Do hope and optimism serve as protective factors against discrimination in Latinx immigrants?
AU - Camacho de Anda, Andrea
AU - Becerra, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The criminalization of Latinx immigration combined with anti-immigrant rhetoric from politicians and media outlets, have led to an array of poor psychosocial outcomes for those who arrive and remain within the United States. Using an Ecological Risk and Resilience Framework, this paper examines the relationship between perceived discrimination within the recent anti-immigration social context and the mental health of Latino immigrants in Arizona. In addition, this study examined whether hope and optimism serve as protective factors against the negative mental health impacts of discrimination among men and women. Data were drawn from a sample of adult Latinx immigrants (n = 421) living in Arizona. Results indicated that participants who reported a greater discrimination reported significantly higher symptoms of 1) depression, 2) anxiety, and 3) stress. In addition, a moderation analysis was conducted to examine whether hope and optimism serve as protective factors against the negative mental health impacts of discrimination. The results indicated hope and optimism moderated the effect of discrimination for males’ reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. However, for females, hope and optimism moderated the effect of discrimination for depression, but not on anxiety and stress. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
AB - The criminalization of Latinx immigration combined with anti-immigrant rhetoric from politicians and media outlets, have led to an array of poor psychosocial outcomes for those who arrive and remain within the United States. Using an Ecological Risk and Resilience Framework, this paper examines the relationship between perceived discrimination within the recent anti-immigration social context and the mental health of Latino immigrants in Arizona. In addition, this study examined whether hope and optimism serve as protective factors against the negative mental health impacts of discrimination among men and women. Data were drawn from a sample of adult Latinx immigrants (n = 421) living in Arizona. Results indicated that participants who reported a greater discrimination reported significantly higher symptoms of 1) depression, 2) anxiety, and 3) stress. In addition, a moderation analysis was conducted to examine whether hope and optimism serve as protective factors against the negative mental health impacts of discrimination. The results indicated hope and optimism moderated the effect of discrimination for males’ reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. However, for females, hope and optimism moderated the effect of discrimination for depression, but not on anxiety and stress. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
KW - Immigration
KW - Latinos
KW - Latinx
KW - discrimination
KW - mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126058311&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85126058311&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10911359.2021.2024107
DO - 10.1080/10911359.2021.2024107
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85126058311
SN - 1091-1359
VL - 33
SP - 143
EP - 162
JO - Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment
JF - Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment
IS - 2
ER -