Latent Profiles of Perceived Discrimination, Bicultural Stress, and Negative Context of Reception and Associations With Mental Health in a Sample of Hispanic and Somali Adolescents

Objective: Ethnic minority youth experience multiple sociocultural stressors, experiences that are distinct from general measures of perceived stress. The present study aims to identify heterogenous subgroups of youth based on three self-reported sociocultural stressors (bicultural stress, perceived discrimination, and perceived negative context of reception). Method: Data are from a pilot study of Hispanic and Somali immigrant-origin youth (N = 291, 46.4% Hispanic) residing in an urban midwestern setting (M_age = 15.9 years [SD = 1.5]; 48.5% female, 35.7% first generation). Using latent profile analysis, three empirically derived profiles described as low cultural stress, high perceived discrimination, and high bicultural stress were identified. Multinomial logistic regression models predicted class membership using theoretically and empirically supported correlates (age, race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and nativity) and examined class association with anxiety and depression. Results: Compared to the low cultural stress profile, Relative Risk Ratios (RRR) indicated that membership in the high perceived discrimination profile was associated with age (RRR = 1.81, 95% CI [1.14, 2.86]) and generational status (e.g., U.S. born vs. first-generation; RRR = 0.0.22, 95% CI [0.07, 0.75]) but not depression or anxiety whereas membership in the high sociocultural stress profile was associated with elevated past week anxiety (RRR = 2.57, 95% CI [1.86, 3.54]), but not depression. Conclusions: The experience of sociocultural stress is heterogenous and certain demographic characteristics, such as age and generation, and high sociocultural stressors, especially bicultural stress, may be important considerations in identifying youth that would benefit from tailored support services. Further work exploring how sociocultural stressors affect mental health among immigrant origin youth is needed.