Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity on Mexican American College Students’ Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

The current study investigated whether different ethnic identity components moderate the associations between acculturative stress and psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students ( N = 148; 67% female) who completed self-report surveys. For women, ethnic affirmation/ belonging and ethnic identity achievement moderated the relation between acculturative stress and depression at low but not high levels of acculturative stress. Among men with low levels of other group orientation, levels of self-esteem were similar regardless of levels of acculturative stress. Discussion focuses on the role of ethnic identity in Latino students’ psychological adjustment and of protective factors that buffer students from acculturative stress. Future research should identify other protective factors that serve as buffers for students experiencing high levels of acculturative stress.

Minority stress, ethnic identity, and depression among Latino/a college students.

“…Latino/a students with relative high levels of ethnic identity may have a heightened awareness of negative interpersonal interactions related to ethnicity. However, ethnic identity was not related to depression, and it did not moderate the relation of stress to depression, which is also consistent with the results of previous studies with Latino/a college students attending ethnically diverse institutions (French & Chavez, 2010;Iturbide et al, 2009). Ethnic identity may be more relevant among Latino/a students attending nondiverse college campuses.…”

“…For example, among Mexican American adolescents, ethnic identity buffered the expected relation of perceived discrimination to self-esteem and to engagement in risky behaviors, but did not buffer the relation of discrimination to intemalizing problems (Umaña-Taylor, Updegraff, & Gonzales-Backen, 2011). Similarly, among Latino/a college students attending campuses with diverse student bodies, ethnic identity achievement did not moderate the relation of either stereotype concems (French & Chavez, 2010) nor acculturative stress (Iturbide, Raffaelli, & Carlo, 2009) to depression. Given these inconsistent findings and the dearth of studies examining minority stress and ethnic identity among Latino/a college students, further research with this population is warranted to examine ethnic identity as a moderator of the relation of minority stress to psychological well-being.…”

Perceived Discrimination and Ethnic Affirmation: Anglo Culture Orientation as a Moderator Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescent Mothers

“…Given that ethnic identity affirmation has been associated with higher self-esteem (Romero & Roberts, 2003) and lower depressive symptoms (Iturbide et al, 2009) for Latino youth, the current study examined predictors of ethnic identity affirmation among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Prior work that has examined whether ethnic identity affirmation is affected by perceived experiences of ethnic discrimination among Latino youth has yielded mixed results.…”

“…The conceptual grounding for the affective component of ethnic identity (i.e., affirmation), which is the focus of the current study, has been based largely on social identity theory (Tajfel, 1981), which proposes that individuals’ concept of self is derived from membership in particular social groups and, specifically, that positive feelings toward one’s group are linked to better psychosocial adjustment because they enable individuals to maintain a positive social identity. Indeed, ethnic identity affirmation has been associated with positive outcomes for Latino youth, such as self-esteem (Romero & Roberts, 2003), satisfaction with life (Ghavami, Fingerhut, Peplau, Grant, & Wittig, 2011), academic attitudes and achievement (Fuligni et al, 2005), as well as interacting with acculturative stress to reduce its negative impact on depressive symptoms (Iturbide, Raffaelli & Carlo, 2009). Therefore, a focus on factors that influence ethnic identity affirmation is especially important for the current sample because adolescent mothers are at-risk for lower self-esteem and higher depression compared to adult mothers (Whitman, Borowski, Keogh, & Weed, 2001).…”

The reliability and validity of the cultural congruity and university environment scales with Chicana/o community college students

“…As students find spaces and connections that allow them a sense of congruity and positive experience of the environment, how students experience their sense of wellness or well-being while on campus has yielded a small literature base specifically regarding Latina/o college students (e.g., Gloria et al, 2005aGloria et al, , 2009Iturbide, Raffaelli, & Carlo, 2009;Rodriguez, Mira, Myers, Morris, & Cardoza, 2003). Although psychological well-being has been explored with Latina/o students in higher education with success, Segura-Herrera (2008) implemented a multiphase, multistep process to develop a culturally-valid and value-specific measure of Latina/o college students' well-being within the content of higher education.…”