Acculturative Stress and Psychological Distress Among Latinx Youth: Moderating Role of Family Cohesion and Conflict

Abstract

This study examined family cohesion and conflict as moderators of associations between discrimination stress and adaptation stress and psychological distress among Latinx youth. Participants included 199 Latinx adolescents (Mage = 13.68). Seventy nine percent were immigrants and 73% had family origins in Mexico. Discrimination stress and adaptation stress had differential associations with psychological distress and with indices of family functioning. Hierarchical regression analysis found significant interactions of family cohesion with both adaptation and discrimination stress. High levels of family cohesion protected against negative effects of discrimination stress. Although high levels of family cohesion were associated with less distress overall, family cohesion appeared to potentiate negative effects of adaptation stress. Results suggest a complex relation of family cohesion with Latinx youths’ emotional well-being, pointing to the need for research examining the role of extra-familial support resources for helping those youth overcome acculturative stress.