Perceived discrimination and Latina college students' depressive symptoms: The roles of dyadic coping with sisters and familism values.

Abstract

Latinx young adults' experiences of discrimination are associated with high levels of depressive symptoms and examining protective factors that buffer the negative consequences of discrimination is important. In a sample of 195 Latina college students, predominately of Mexican origin, we examined associations between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms, and how sisters' dyadic coping behaviors and familism values moderated this association. We conducted hierarchical regression analyses to test our study hypotheses. We found that Latina college students who were older sisters reported more conflictual and antagonistic sibling relationships, or who perceived higher levels of discrimination also reported the most depressive symptoms, which supports prior research. Importantly, Latina college students who strongly endorsed supportive, obligatory, and referent familism values reported fewer depressive symptoms. Supportive familism values weakened the association between perceived discrimination and Latina college students' depressive symptoms but strengthened associations between sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors strengthened the positive association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of familism values for Latinx young adults' well-being, as well as the harmful effects of perceived discrimination, particularly in the context of sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors.