Racial/Ethnic Identity and Subjective Physical and Mental Health of Latino Americans: An Asset Within?

Social Identity Theory indicates that ethnic identity could benefit minority members in a society because of its promotion of a sense of belonging, or of its buffering of the damage of discrimination. Despite growing investigation about Latinos’ overall health, few studies have simultaneously examin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of community psychology Vol. 53; no. 1-2; pp. 173 - 184
Main Authors:	Ai, Amy L., Aisenberg, Eugene, Weiss, Saskia I., Salazar, Dulny
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Boston Springer US 01-03-2014 Blackwell Science Ltd
Subjects:	Acculturation Adolescent Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Asian Americans Attendance Behavioral Science and Psychology Clinical Psychology Community and Environmental Psychology Cultural strength Discrimination Ethnic Identity Ethnicity Female Health Problems Health Psychology Health Status Hispanic Americans Hispanic Americans - ethnology Hispanic Americans - psychology Humans Latino Male Mental Health Middle Aged Original Article Personality and Social Psychology Physical fitness Prediction Psychology Public Health Racial identity Racial/ethnic identity Religion Religious involvement Self Concept Self-rated physical and mental health Social Identification Social Support Young Adult Acculturation Religious involvement Racial/ethnic identity Latino Self-rated physical and mental health Cultural strength Social support
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Summary:	Social Identity Theory indicates that ethnic identity could benefit minority members in a society because of its promotion of a sense of belonging, or of its buffering of the damage of discrimination. Despite growing investigation about Latinos’ overall health, few studies have simultaneously examined the influence of multiple cultural strength factors, especially racial/ethnic identity, social support, and religious attendance, on these outcomes. Using the National Latino and Asian American Study, we examine the potential predictive value of these cultural strength factors on Latinos’ Self-Rated Mental and Physical Health (SRMH and SRPH). Two separate two-step regression models revealed significant positive effects of racial/ethnic identity on both mental and physical health of Latinos, above and beyond the effect of known demographic and acculturation factors, such as discrimination. Religious attendance had a positive effect on SRMH but not on SRPH. The deteriorating roles of discrimination, in mental health only, and that of Length in the US in both outcomes, however, was primarily not altered by entry of these cultural strength factors. The independent direct effect of racial/ethnic identity among Latinos nationwide may suggest that this cultural strength is an internalized protective asset. Longitudinal data is needed to explore its underlying mechanism and long-term impact.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0091-0562 1573-2770
DOI:	10.1007/s10464-014-9635-5