Ethnic discrimination, social cohesion, and mental health among Latinx adults.

Abstract

Public Policy Relevance Statement Ethnic discrimination continues to engender poor mental health outcomes among the Latinx community. The present study examined the role of neighborhood- and individual-level factors in contributing to the relationship between ethnic discrimination and depression symptoms. The findings suggest that social cohesion serves a protective function highlighting the importance of community on mental health. The negative effects of ethnic discrimination on depression symptoms have led researchers to identify potential risk and protective variables of this relationship. While some studies have focused on individual level factors, little research has explored the role of community-level variables, or the combination of both. The present study of Latinx adults (N = 304) tested a moderated mediation model to examine if alcohol use was a mediator of ethnic discrimination and depression under certain levels of social cohesion. Results found that alcohol use was a mediator between ethnic discrimination and depression symptoms and social cohesion moderated this relationship, such that alcohol use was not significant at higher levels of social cohesion. Implications and future directions are discussed.