These data provide novel insight that among Latinos in primary care, emotion dysregulation is a possible mechanism underlying the indirect relationship between negative affectivity and problematic alcohol use and symptoms of dependence. Results also highlight specific facets of emotion dysregulation as potential targets of intervention. Future research should be longitudinal in nature, be conducted among more representative samples, and utilize measures that will better assess the potential variability in these associations. Results of such work may inform the development of alcohol treatment interventions incorporating the use of adaptive emotion regulation among Latinos in primary care.

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Rates of suicide and major depressive disorder (MDD) are currently at the highest point in the history of the United States (US). However, these rates are not distributed evenly among the population and Latinos show disproportionately high rates of both suicide and MDD. Yet, past research has infrequently explored factors related to suicide and MDD in primary care settings that serve as the major community portal for mental health among the Latino population. Thus, the current study investigated sociodemographic variables (marital status, nativity, education, employment, primary language, age, and gender) in terms of their relations with suicidal ideation, suicide risk, MDD, and MDD symptom severity among Latino primary care patients in a Federally Qualified Health Center (N = 634, M = 39.46, SD = 11.46, 87.1% female). Results indicated that gender and Nativity were associated with suicidal ideation, older age was associated with suicide risk, and higher education and having a partner were negatively associated with MDD and depressive symptom severity. These results provide novel insight into the role of sociodemographic factors predicting suicide and MDD among Latinos in primary care, and suggest greater scientific and clinical attention can be focused on certain sociodemographic factors to offset mental health disparities among this group.

Among Latinx in the United States, alcohol is the most widely abused substance and is associated with a range of negative consequences. Acculturative stress is one factor that is relevant regarding Latinx substance use although more work is needed in this area. In theory, those with more adaptive emotion regulation capabilities may be better able to buffer against the adverse effects of acculturative stress on alcohol use because the person has more and better strategies to deal with life stress. Thus, the current study sought to examine the moderating role of dysregulation in the association of acculturative stress and alcohol use among Latinx in primary care. Latinx adults (N ϭ 94; M age ϭ 38.5 years, SD ϭ 10.8; 86.6% female) recruited from a Federally Qualified Health Center provided self-reported ratings of acculturative stress, emotion dysregulation, and alcohol use. All measures were in Spanish. Covariates included sex, marital status, age, years in the United States, negative affectivity, and clinic visit reason (patient vs. person accompanying patient). There was a statistically significant interaction of acculturative stress and emotion dysregulation (␤ ϭ 1.65, t ϭ 2.29, p ϭ .025) on alcohol use, which accounted for 4.8% of additional variance over and above covariates and the nonsignificant main effects. Simple slope analyses revealed that acculturative stress was associated with alcohol use among those with high (␤ ϭ 0.28, t ϭ 2.04, p ϭ .045), but not low (␤ ϭ Ϫ0.28, t ϭ Ϫ1.26, p ϭ .210) levels of emotion dysregulation. The current results indicate that emotion dysregulation moderates the association between acculturative stress and alcohol use among Latinx in primary care. Public Policy Relevance StatementFor Latinx individuals attending primary care centers, inability to regulate emotions may put them at risk for alcohol use in the face of stressors such as acculturative stress. Additional work is needed to evaluate and potentially improve emotion regulation to buffer against these potentially harmful outcomes.

The present study examined the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of the negative consequences of anxiety) in the relation between perceived racial discrimination and pain-related problems among Latinos seeking health services at a Federally Qualified Health Center. Participants included 145 adult Latinos (87.80% female, M = 38.07 years, SD = 11.98, and 96.2% reported Spanish as their first language). Results indicated that perceived racial discrimination was indirectly related to the pain intensity and pain disability through AS. These effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by gender, age, marital status, educational status, employment status, years living in the United States, and number of axis I diagnoses. Overall, the present findings highlight the merit in focusing further scientific attention on the interplay between perceived racial discrimination and AS to better understand and inform interventions to reduce pain problems among Latinos in primary care.