Psychological toll of hate speech: The role of acculturation stress in the effects of exposure to ethnic slurs on mental health among Ukrainian immigrants in Poland.

Abstract

An online survey was conducted among Ukrainian immigrants living in Poland (N = 726) in order to investigate the relation between exposure to hate speech, acculturation stress, and mental health. Mediation analyses were used to test whether exposure to hateful language predicts posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms and whether these effects are mediated by acculturation stress while controlling for experiences of other forms of discrimination. Exposure to hate speech predicted PTSD and depression symptoms. Both effects were mediated by acculturation stress and were significant after controlling for experienced discrimination. The study provides evidence for the existence of a relation between exposure to hate speech among migrants and mental health problems. The study also provides support for a potential mechanism of this effect: acculturation stress and evidence for the fact that the effect holds over and above the effect of discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).