AATP Journals

Privilege and distress intolerance at the margins: Exploring the role of critical consciousness and entitlement. With a U.S.-based sample of 219 people of color with diverse sexual orientations, the present study aimed to reveal how perceived privilege may be associated with distress intolerance, and the mediating roles of critical consciousness and entitlement. Data were also used to explore the interaction of sexual orientation status (heterosexual or sexual minority) with these paths. Via path analysis, we found that privilege was unrelated to critical consciousness, yielded a positive direct link to entitlement, and had a negative direct link to distress intolerance. Tests of indirect relations showed that privilege had a significant indirect relation to distress intolerance via entitlement but not critical consciousness. Regarding moderation analyses, the Privilege × Sexual Minority Status interaction predicting entitlement, privilege was significantly positively associated with entitlement among both heterosexual and sexual minority participants, but the association was significantly stronger for heterosexual participants. For the Critical Consciousness × Sexual Minority Status interaction predicting distress intolerance, the association of critical consciousness with distress intolerance was nonsignificant for both heterosexual and sexual minority participants, but the association changed direction and was significantly stronger for sexual minority participants. Indirect relations did not differ for sexual minority or heterosexual participants. Implications for future research and intervention are addressed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 04 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Online xenophobia and mental health among Venezuelan migrant youth in Colombia: The interplay with “in-person” discrimination. Emerging research provides insights into migration-related cultural stress experiences and mental health among Venezuelan migrants; however, prior studies have not considered the critical distinction between online xenophobia and in-person discrimination. To address this gap, we assess the psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS) with Venezuelan migrant youth and examine the interplay between online xenophobia, in-person discrimination, and mental health. Survey data were collected from Venezuelan migrant youth (N = 319; ages 13–17, 49.5% female) in Colombia in April–July 2023. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the PORS, and multiple regression was conducted to examine key associations. The CFA showed excellent model fit: χ²(7) = 13.498, p = .061; comparative fit index = .989; Tucker–Lewis index = .977; root-mean-square error of approximation = .055; standardized root-mean-square residual = .026. Controlling for demographic factors, online xenophobia was associated with depressive symptoms (β = .253, p < .001) and anxiety (β = .200, p = .001). The online xenophobia-mental health association weakened when controlling for in-person discrimination but remained nevertheless significant (depression: β = .181, p = .002, anxiety: β = .135, p = .026). Interaction effects (Online × In-Person) revealed a pattern in which greater exposure to online xenophobia was associated with greater distress, but only at relatively low levels of in-person discrimination. Findings provide new insights regarding (a) the properties of an increasingly relevant measure of cultural stress, (b) how online xenophobia relates to mental health, and (c) the interplay of online and in-person cultural stressors vis-à-vis mental health among Venezuelan migrant youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding how Latinx youth cope with discrimination: A call to action. Racial–ethnic discrimination leads to poorer academic and mental health outcomes for Latinx youth. Although there is a growing literature on the resilience processes that shield Latinx youth from the negative ramifications of these experiences, there is limited work that specifically considers the coping behaviors and processes that youth enact to counter the harmful impact of racial–ethnic discrimination. This limited work is further hampered by a lack of measurement tools that account for the uniqueness of racial–ethnic discrimination as a stressor and the culturally relevant coping strategies endemic to Latinx populations. This article reviews the mixed findings among studies that have examined discrimination, coping strategies, and Latinx youth outcomes. Furthermore, the pressing need for a new measure that would better capture the nuanced manner in which Latinx adolescents cope with racism-related stress is outlined. This work concludes with methodological considerations as well as recommendations for the field’s study of coping with the insidious impact of racism-related stress among Latinx adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Predictors of hope among at-risk young adults in Israel during the transition to adulthood. This exploratory study examined hope among at-risk young adults and the factors associated with hope including income, housing, self-rated health, and education. The study, conducted among Israeli at-risk young adults, included 589 participants, ages 18–25 who received some form of treatment at one of Israel’s social welfare service agencies. Findings indicated that young adults who had experienced housing instability/insecurity during the past year had lower levels of hope compared to participants who had not experienced housing instability/insecurity. Structural equation modeling revealed housing security, higher income sufficiency, and higher education were associated with higher levels of hope. The discussion addresses the importance of recognizing both protective and risk factors for positive adjustment among at-risk young adults. Implications for practice emphasize the importance of considering instrumental, as well as psychological and motivational, aspects in intervention programs that support at-risk young adults during the transition to adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Mental health stigma and service use among Black American youth: A systematic review. Past research has found that Black children do not obtain mental health services at a rate commensurate with their needs. Additionally, they overall have lower rates of service utilization in comparison to other groups, even when factors such as socioeconomic status are considered. This systematic review aimed to examine the impact of mental health stigma on service utilization within Black families. We conducted a review of qualitative and quantitative studies published from 1990 to 2020 that examined the relationship between mental health stigma and service use and included disaggregated data of Black American youth and/or caregivers as the participants. Twelve articles (six quantitative, four qualitative, and two mixed methods) met the inclusion criteria. We used a narrative synthesis approach to organize and assess the extracted data. Youth reported stigmatizing beliefs about mental health treatment, although their attitudes did not contribute to caregivers’ decisions about seeking treatment for them. Caregivers reported an awareness of stigmatizing views being held by others in their communities, but they did not consistently describe these views as impacting their service use decisions. Findings suggest a need for additional research to determine which factors most strongly impact the service use decisions of Black American caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Differences and similarities between ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness links among diverse parents of color. Parents of color’s critical consciousness development (understanding of and actions to redress societal inequalities) is an important yet understudied area, especially relative to the burgeoning literature on youth’s critical consciousness development. As with youth of color, ethnic–racial identity, or the meaning and importance placed on one’s ethnic–racial group membership, likely plays a notable yet complex role in parents’ critical consciousness. Specifically, parents’ participation in activities that engage them in the culture of their racial–ethnic group (exploration), the importance they place on race–ethnicity (centrality), and their perceptions of how society views their group (public regard) may each be differentially associated with understanding of inequalities (critical reflection), motivation toward ending inequalities (critical motivation), and the behaviors parents engage in to address inequalities (critical action). Further, it is possible that associations may vary across racial–ethnic groups given different sociocultural histories, experiences (including immigrant experiences), and positionality within the United States. In the present study, we employ multigroup structural equation modeling among a sample of 203 Black, 193 Asian American, and 188 Latinx parents (total N = 584, M_age = 44.46, SD = 2.49, 59.6% mothers) of an adolescent child between the ages of 13 and 17 to examine associations between ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness across groups. Results indicate highly complex, group-specific relations between identity and critical consciousness: public regard was most consistently predictive of critical consciousness dimensions among Black parents. Exploration and centrality were most predictive among Asian American and Latinx parents, respectively. Implications for relations between ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness in light of different group experiences are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 04 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Long-term effects of the school context on depressive symptoms among Asian Americans. Despite the importance of the school environment for mental health outcomes, there is little research on how the school context during adolescence may impact depressive symptoms among Asian Americans (AAs) over time. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the long-term effects of perceived prejudice from peers and teachers on school belonging and depressive symptoms in adolescence, early young adulthood, and young adulthood among AAs and (b) the mediating effects of school belonging and two early depressive symptoms on the associations between perceived prejudice from peers and teachers and young adulthood depressive symptoms. The data came from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. The present study used a subsample of 689 AAs who completed interviews during adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. The major data analysis strategy was structural equation modeling. The structural equation modeling results indicated that the major path coefficients from school context to depressive symptoms at the three time points for AAs were statistically significant, except for the path from adolescent depressive symptoms to young adulthood depressive symptoms. There were three significant mediating effects of school belonging and two early depressive symptoms on the association between perceived prejudice from teachers and young adulthood depressive symptoms in AAs. The results emphasize the importance of identifying school contextual risk factors leading to mental health disparities and developing culturally appropriate intervention strategies for AAs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 06 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Ethnocultural disparities in loneliness among women in Israel: A population-based study. Loneliness was predicted for women in three ethnocultural groups in Israel: native Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants. The study was based on Lund et al.’s (2018) conceptualization of social determinant domains of mental health disorders, as in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Social determinants were demographic, economic, social–cultural, and neighborhood factors. We examined whether ethnocultural disparities in loneliness persist when controlling for social determinants in these four domains or whether ethnic disparities are related to other forms of inequality among the three study groups, as reflected in these four domains. Next, we explored associations between the co-occurrence of key social determinants with loneliness. We used cross-sectional representative data of working-age women from the Israeli Social Survey (N = 5,600). Hierarchical logistic regression analyses indicated a higher risk for loneliness among FSU immigrants and Israeli Arabs than among native Jews. Economic risk factors significantly increased the risk of loneliness. Social and cultural factors decreased the risk of loneliness, while discrimination increased it. Improved neighborhood conditions decreased the risk of loneliness. Ethnocultural disparities in loneliness diminished when economic determinants were controlled. Co-occurrence of risk factors greatly increased the risk for loneliness, demonstrating a stepped relationship. Developing supportive networks for women, mainly from minority groups, to increase trust and fight discrimination against any background is necessary. Moreover, significant efforts must be made to combat poverty and narrow socioeconomic inequalities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 02 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Toward transgender health: Analysis of current barriers and theorizing interventions. In the fields of medical and behavioral health care, there is a demonstrable scarcity of providers who possess the necessary levels of clinical and cultural competency required to serve transgender patients. As a result of this deficiency, many members of the transgender community engage in an avoidance of care. Among providers, there are observed deficiencies in awareness regarding specific acute and chronic health disparities experienced by members of the transgender population. We aim to demonstrate the unique and intersectional health disparities experienced by this community, to empower providers serving this community. Additionally, we endeavor to propose a range of potential clinical and political interventions and options for mobilization that providers can engage in. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 06 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Child behavioral problems and parental adjustment: Family, interparental, and parent–child processes as simultaneous mediators. This study examined the associations of child behavioral problems with parental adjustment and whether family processes mediated such associations. Cross-sectional data were collected from the fathers, mothers, and class teachers of 186 kindergarten-aged children with special educational needs from Hong Kong, China (mean age = 61.6 months, and 136 of them were boys). Using questionnaires, parents reported their children’s behavioral problems and their own adjustment and family processes. Meanwhile, class teachers rated children’s behavioral problems. Multigroup analyses supported a mediation model that was invariant across fathers and mothers. Controlling for child and family demographic information, child behavioral problems were linked positively to parental depression and negatively to parental life satisfaction. Moreover, the link of child behavioral problems with parental depression was fully mediated by family economic pressures, marital conflict, and parent–child conflict, whereas the link of child behavioral problems with parental life satisfaction was fully mediated by family economic pressures and marital conflict. Theoretically, our findings pointed to the importance of considering multiple family processes in understanding the relationship between child characteristics and parental well-being among families with children with special educational needs. Practically, our findings highlighted the possible utility of equipping fathers and mothers of children with special educational needs with skills to reduce children’s problem behaviors, cope with financial hardship, and manage marital and parent–child conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT