Examining Social Determinants of Psychological Distress among a Sample of U.S. and Foreign-Born Latinas: Findings from the NLAAS

Background: This study examines the social determinants of psychological distress among Latinas, and the extent to which these factors similarly or differentially impact the mental health of US-born and foreign-born Latinas. Method: Data for this study were from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). Secondary data analyses were conducted using the Latina subsample (N= 1, 427). We built four linear regression models to examine predictors of psychological distress during the past month from socioeconomic, sociocultural, contextual, and social resources measures. Results: The final multivariable linear regression model indicated that after adjusting for covariates, only the socioeconomic indices (perceiving not having enough money to meet needs; being out of the labor force) and sociocultural factors (ethnic discrimination, unfair treatment, family cultural conflict, and family burden) were associated with increased levels of psychological distress in the full sample. Adjusted multivariable analyses stratified by nativity showed that among U.S.-born Latinas, socioeconomic indices (being in the $35,000-$74,999 bracket; being in debt; perceiving not having enough money to meet needs) and sociocultural factors (unfair treatment, family burden) were associated with increased psychological distress. Furthermore, among foreign-born Latinas, socioeconomic indices (perceiving not having enough money to meet needs, having only a high school degree) and sociocultural factors (ethnic discrimination, unfair treatment, family cultural conflict) were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Conclusion: Our results contribute to a greater understanding of the “Latino health paradox” in two ways. First, our results highlight the importance of attending to the nativity context (i.e., US-born-or foreign-born status) when examining correlates of psychiatric morbidity among Latinas residing in the U.S. Second, our results show the need to consider measures across multiple domains to understand the mechanisms contributing to the differential health profiles of foreign-born and U.S.-born Latina women.