Citation

Felkey J, Graham S. Cultur. Divers. Ethnic Minor. Psychol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues; American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/cdp0000502

PMID

34843295

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Past studies on language brokering have examined how various individual and contextual factors influence the association between language brokering and mental health outcomes, but few studies have assessed how racial/ethnic discrimination or perceptions of how society treats one's racial/ethnic group (i.e., cultural mistrust) affects mental health outcomes. The goal of this study was to examine how reports of racial/ethnic discrimination and perceptions of cultural mistrust influence mental health outcomes for adolescent language brokers.

METHOD: Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the moderating role of racial/ethnic discrimination and cultural mistrust on the associations between language brokering frequency and depressive and social anxiety symptoms in 1,044 Latino and Asian American adolescents (57.5% female, M(age) = 15.12 years, SD = 0.41).

RESULTS: Findings indicated that brokering more frequently was associated with more depressive and social anxiety symptoms for youth who reported racial/ethnic discrimination from adults in school and more depressive symptoms for youth who had high levels of cultural mistrust. Differences in racial/ethnic groups were also explored.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that reports of racial/ethnic discrimination and perceptions of cultural mistrust exacerbate psychological challenges among Latino and Asian American adolescent language brokers and highlight the importance of further examining how discrimination influences the psychosocial development of brokering youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en