Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology

Exposure therapy acceptability among pregnant Latinas with anxiety: A qualitative content analysis.
Objective: Exposure therapy is the frontline treatment for anxiety among adults but is underutilized during pregnancy. We qualitatively assess the prospective acceptability of exposure therapy among pregnant Latinas with elevated anxiety, a group that experiences mental health disparities. Method: Pregnant Latinas (N = 25) with elevated anxiety were interviewed regarding their acceptability of exposure therapy following the receipt of an informational clinical video vignette. Interviews were analyzed using deductive content analysis guided by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability to understand pregnant Latinas’ views about exposure therapy. Results: Nineteen themes were identified across seven theoretically driven subdomains of acceptability. Women expressed acceptability enhancing factors for exposure therapy including feeling hopeful about its effects, a belief that treatment could benefit their broader family, and a preference for treatment during pregnancy as opposed to the postpartum period. Women also expressed challenges to exposure therapy acceptability such as managing family reactions to prenatal psychotherapy, conflict with cultural conceptions of the maternal role, and perceived difficulty using exposure for avoidance related to prenatal health. Conclusion: Identified themes provide insights about exposure acceptability among pregnant women and can be used to bettter engage Latinas in anxiety interventions, ultimately improving clinical outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
What predicts interdependence with family? The relative contributions of ethnicity/race and social class.
Objective: Interdependence with family is considered a core element of collectivistic cultures, and it is routinely endorsed by people of ethnic/racial minority backgrounds in the United States. In contrast, a preference for independence from family is characteristic of individualistic cultures, and of European Americans, who are considered prototypical of cultural individualism. Scholars have also theorized that socioeconomic factors play a role in shaping these patterns. We hypothesized and tested the possibility of a more nuanced and interactive pattern. Drawing from long-standing research on U.S. ethnic–minority cultures and recent research on social class, we expected that lower income would be least associated with family interdependence in foreign-born Latino/a Americans and most strongly associated with higher family interdependence in European Americans. Method and Results: In a prospective community study of a diverse sample of U.S. adults (N = 2,466), income interacted with ethnic/racial group to predict interdependence with family. In line with our predictions, income was not associated with family interdependence for foreign-born Latino/a Americans or African Americans, but lower income was significantly associated with higher interdependence with family in European Americans and, to a lesser extent, in U.S.-born Latino/a Americans. Conclusions: These findings provide novel evidence for the relevance of both ethnicity/race and social class—two aspects of culture—for family interdependence. They highlight the centrality of interdependence with family among foreign-born Latino/a Americans while showing that European Americans, a group considered most representative of cultural individualism, can also highly value interdependence with family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Alcohol misuse during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stressors and intersectionality among Latinx women.
Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated previously existing disparities and introduced new challenges for individuals living at the intersection of marginalized identities, such as Latinx women. For instance, increases in alcohol use have been noted during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet it is unclear which circumstances experienced are more likely to predict alcohol use among Latinx women. Method: The present study sought to identify the profile of intersectional factors, namely immigrant status, socioeconomic standing, and age, and COVID-19 stressors that predicted high or hazardous alcohol use among 1,227 Latinx women living in the United States. Results: The main findings, in the form of a binomial logistic regression, revealed a pattern of circumstances that differentiated high and low alcohol use including income, age, history of COVID-19 infection, disruptions in work, and emotional health difficulties. Conclusions: Overall, the present study provides an important contribution to the extant research literature by demonstrating the importance of considering syndemic effects of COVID-19 when addressing health behaviors for Latinx women. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Ethnic identity commitment as a moderator for perceived access to health care among Latinx sexual minority men.
Objective: Gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (SMM) face more barriers to accessing health care compared to other men. In comparison to other SMM populations, Latinx SMM (LSMM) report having less access to health care. The purpose of the present study is to elucidate how theorized environmental–societal-level (i.e., immigration status, education level, and income level), community–interpersonal-level (i.e., social support and neighborhood collective efficacy [NCE]), and social–cognitive–behavioral-level factors (i.e., age, heterosexual self-presentation [HSP], sexual identity commitment, sexual identity exploration [SIE], and ethnic identity commitment [EIC]) may relate with perceived access to health care (PATHC) in a sample of 478 LSMM. Method: We conducted a hierarchical regression analysis examining the hypothesized predictors of PATHC, as well as EIC as a moderator of the direct association between predictors and PATHC. We hypothesized that Latinx EIC would moderate relations between the aforementioned multilevel factors and PATHC. Results: LSMM perceived greater access to care when indicating the following: higher education level, more NCE, more HSP, more SIE, and more EIC. Latinx EIC acted as a moderator of four predictors of PATHC, including education, NCE, HSP, and SIE. Conclusions: Findings inform outreach interventions of researchers and health care providers about psychosocial and cultural barriers and facilitators of health care access. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Promoting mental and physical health of Vietnamese immigrants through a cultural movement intervention.
Objectives: Older Vietnamese adults are among the most underserved groups in the United States, despite being at high risk for stress and other negative experiences (e.g., access to same-language practitioners, transportation barriers, lack of health care). Minimal progress has been made in decreasing treatment barriers for this underserved population. One promising approach involves using indigenous, culturally based interventions to enhance psychological and physical well-being. Such interventions may reduce utilization and quality of care disparities because they emphasize a more holistic approach to health, thereby limiting the shame and face loss often experienced due to the stigma associated with mental illness. The present study examined the efficacy of lishi, a traditional East Asian movement form of exercise, in promoting mental and physical health outcomes for older Vietnamese immigrant adults. Method: Seventy-one older Vietnamese adults participated in this randomized waitlist control study. Participants were between 60 and 75 years old. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to determine posttest outcomes differences between the intervention and control groups. Results: Intervention group participants experienced significantly higher levels of self-efficacy and physical energy, less bodily pains, and better body balance at posttest compared to the control group. Conclusions: Lishi may be an effective culturally valid intervention for older Vietnamese adults and demonstrated promise at engaging this hard-to-reach population in treatment and services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Examining the relationship between intersectional discrimination and substance use disorders by race/ethnicity and gender.
Objectives: The present study aims to assess the relationship between substance use disorders (SUD) and intersectional discrimination, the intersection of racial/ethnic discrimination, and gender discrimination. Further, this study aims to determine if the relationship between SUD and discrimination varies by race/ethnicity and gender. Method: This cross-sectional study analyzes data from a diverse sample of American Indian, Asian, Black, Latinx, and White adult respondents (N = 34,547) from Wave 2 of the 2004–2005 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test the association between intersectional discrimination and SUD. Intersectional discrimination was assessed using an interaction term between racial/ethnic discrimination and gender discrimination. Alcohol use disorders (AUD) only and alcohol plus drug use disorders (SUD) were assessed separately. Analyses were stratified by race/ethnicity and gender. Results: Overall, intersectional discrimination was associated with increased predicted probabilities of SUD relative to those with no discrimination and was more often associated with SUD than AUD. Intersectional discrimination was associated with increased predicted probabilities of AUD and SUD among women, Black, Latinx, and White adults. Intersectional discrimination was associated with increased predicted probabilities of SUD but not AUD among men, American Indian, and Asian adults. Conclusions: Intersectional discrimination consistently elevated AUD and/or SUD across subgroups defined by gender or race/ethnicity; however, effects were variable across gender, race/ethnicity, and disorder. Findings demonstrate the negative health implications of intersectional discrimination for men and women and American Indian, Asian, Black, Latinx, and White adults. Study findings have implications for the development of policies and interventions that are centered around intersectionality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
When and why is faculty mentorship effective for underrepresented students in STEM? A multicampus quasi-experiment.
Objectives: Faculty mentorship can be one solution to addressing the participation and persistence gaps between underrepresented groups (URGs) and overrepresented group members in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying effective STEM faculty mentorship. The present study (a) investigates if faculty mentorship impacts STEM identity, attitudes, belonging, and self-efficacy; (b) compares students’ perceptions of women versus men faculty mentorship support functions; and (c) uncovers the mentorship support mechanisms underlying impactful faculty mentorship. Method: The present research sampled ethnic–racial minority URG undergraduate students pursuing STEM majors across eight institutions (N = 362; age = 24.85; 36.6% Latinx, 30.6% Black, and 4.6% multiracial; 60.1% women). The study’s overall quasi-experimental design adopted a one-factor two-level (faculty mentorship status: yes, no) between-subjects design. Among the participants who reported having a faculty mentor, we also examined faculty mentor gender (women vs. men) as a between-subjects variable. Results: Faculty mentorship had a positive impact on URG students’ STEM identity, attitudes, belonging, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, mentorship support functions indirectly predicted identity, attitudes, belonging, and self-efficacy among URG mentees who had women compared to men faculty mentors. Conclusions: Implications for how STEM faculty, regardless of their gender identity, can be effective mentors to URG students are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Racial identity and sense of belonging: Moderators of Black college students’ institutional race-related stress and anxious arousal.
Objectives: Race-related stress due to institutional racism is a pervasive reality for Black college students and contributes to poor mental health outcomes such as anxious arousal symptoms. One framework which may account for this association between chronic stress and anxious arousal symptoms is the reserve capacity model. This study investigated whether racial identity dimensions (racial centrality, public regard, private regard) and sense of belonging to the racial group contribute to this population’s reserve capacity and buffer the association between institutional race-related stress and anxious arousal symptoms. Method: A sample of 134 Black college students completed racial identity, sense of belonging, and mental health questionnaires. These data were subjected to multiple regression analysis to assess the main and interactive effects of institutional race-related stress and dimensions of interest as predictors of anxious arousal symptoms. Results: The analysis indicated that higher levels of institutional race-related stress, racial centrality, and public regard were each associated with higher levels of anxious arousal while higher levels of private regard and sense of belonging were associated with lower levels of anxious arousal. Further investigation of interaction effects revealed that high levels of sense of belonging and low levels of public regard, respectively, buffered the association between institutional race-related stress and anxious arousal symptoms. Conclusions: These findings illustrate how certain racial identity dimensions and sense of belonging contribute to the reserve capacity of Black students experiencing institutional race-related stress. Results are further discussed in the context of extant literature on Black racial identity and the university context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Microaggressions and general health among Black and Asian Americans: The moderating role of cognitive reappraisal.
Objectives: The present study has two aims: (a) to examine the frequency of various microaggression types experienced by Asian and Black Americans and (b) to examine cognitive reappraisal as a moderator of the relationship between microaggression types and general health. Method: Two hundred seventy-one Black and Asian American participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed a cross-sectional online survey. The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale was used to assess the frequency with which participants experienced six different types of microaggressions. Cognitive reappraisal was assessed by the cognitive reappraisal subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. General health was assessed by the RAND 36-item Short Form Health Survey. Results: We found that Black Americans experienced higher levels of Inferiority, Criminality, Workplace/School Microaggressions and Microinvalidations than Asian Americans. In contrast, Asian Americans experienced greater Exoticization and Environmental Microaggressions. There were ethnic/racial group differences in whether cognitive reappraisal moderated the relationships between microaggression types and general health. Conclusions: Our findings highlight important differences in the types of microaggressions experienced across ethnic/racial groups, and the role of cognitive reappraisal in influencing the detrimental effects of microaggressions on general health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Social connectedness and surviving at the margins: Findings from interviews with low-income Latino men in the U.S. Northeast.
Objectives: Structural and interpersonal discrimination can lead to social exclusion and limited social integration, inhibiting the use of support networks to gain access to health-protective material and social resources. Social support theories suggest that connectedness may moderate the link between discrimination and health risk. This study examined how risk factors (i.e., structural and interpersonal discrimination) further marginalize Puerto Rican men by limiting access to social support. We also aimed to identify resiliency factors, such as cultural values related to social interactions and community support, which may be protective for these men’s well-being. Method: We conducted 40 semistructured interviews with a stratified purposeful sample of Puerto Rican (92.5%) men aged 25–70 (Mage = 50.7) in the U.S. Northeast. A hybrid deductive and inductive thematic qualitative analysis was used to analyze data. Results: Participants discussed how structural and interpersonal discrimination result in inequities and barriers to resources and services (e.g., lack of adequate shelter, insecurity, employment) which impacted their well-being through the inability to access fundamental support for survival. The men identified cultural values (e.g., familismo, simpatía) and emphasized the importance of community support as protective factors that may provide a respite from the difficulties of navigating discrimination experiences. Conclusion: Findings suggest discrimination limits Puerto Rican men’s ability to access resources, which has a detrimental impact on their well-being. Identifying social support beyond the family, and considering cultural values related to support, can enhance community interventions by focusing on incorporating multiple forms of support that may improve Puerto Rican men’s health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Reflecting on change: Critical consciousness as a protective factor for Black youth.
Objectives: The previous decade has seen an abundance of scholarship on the benefits of critical consciousness (CC) for racial and ethnic minority youth. However, it is unclear whether CC is a buffer against the negative effects of racial discrimination on Black adolescents’ outcomes. The present study examined whether three CC dimensions buffered against the negative effects of racial discrimination on academic attitudes. Method: A total of 205 Black adolescents (Mage = 15.10) reported racial discrimination and CC. We conducted multiple regression analyses for each component of CC to test for their direct and protective effects on academic attitudes. Results: Our results revealed associations between CC dimensions and academic attitudes. Critical reflection and critical action also buffered against racial discrimination’s negative effects. Conclusions: Implications for research on the nature and impact of CC dimensions on racial discrimination and academic attitudes are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Medical mistrust of health systems as a moderator of resilience and self-reported HIV care engagement in Black and Latinx young adults living with HIV.
Objective: To study resilience and its association with HIV care engagement in a sample of young adult Black and Latinx people living with HIV (PLWH) in the United States and to test if a systems-level barrier, medical mistrust, would moderate the resilience-engagement association. Method: Between April and August 2021, we recruited participants through social media and dating apps (N = 212) and verified age and HIV status through a review process of digital text-messaged and emailed photos. Participants completed a one-time online survey consisting of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, The Index of Engagement in HIV Care, and the Medical Mistrust Index. We ran a regression-based moderation analysis using the Johnson–Neyman Technique to estimate regions of significance. Results: The sample (N = 212) was 80.5% Black and 19.5% Latinx with a mean age of 25.8 years (SD = 2.84). Higher resilience scores were associated with higher HIV care engagement scores (b = 0.72, p = .003), and medical mistrust moderated this relationship as evidenced by a mistrust by resilience interaction (b = −0.16, p = .01). Our regions of statistical significance showed that as mistrust increased, the size of the resilience-engagement association decreased. Conclusion: Resilience may be a protective factor associated with greater participation and sense of connection to HIV care, but is diminished by mistrust of the medical system at large. This suggest that systems-level changes, in addition to individual-level interventions, are needed to address medical mistrust to fully harness the resilience of young PLWH. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Short-term outcomes from a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating a virtual culturally adapted parenting intervention among Filipino parents of school-age children.
Background: Filipino youth in the United States have significant behavioral health problems, including high rates of depression and suicidal behavior. Evidence-based parenting groups promote positive parenting practices and improve child behavior, yet few have been implemented online. Objectives: This study tested the short-term effects of a culturally adapted hybrid version of the Incredible Years School Age Basic and Advance Programs when delivered online among groups of parents of Filipino children and estimated intervention effect sizes. Method: Forty-nine parents of children aged 8–12 years recruited from schools, clinics, community organizations, and social media were randomly assigned to intervention or a wait-list control group that received literature from the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Bright Futures program. The intervention consisted of 12 weekly 2-hr sessions. Parent perceptions of child behavior, parenting practices, and parenting stress as well as child surveys of anxiety and depression symptoms using validated assessments were obtained at baseline and 3-month postintervention follow-up. Results: Forty parents completed both baseline and follow-up surveys with a mean attendance of 9.35 out of 12 sessions (n = 18). Analysis of covariance comparing 3-month (pre-/postintervention) changes revealed that the program had a statistically significant positive impact on parenting practices (positive verbal discipline, praise and incentives, and clear expectations); parent perceptions of their child’s internalizing symptoms; and child-reported anxiety and depression symptoms. Conclusions: Results support the feasibility and potential effectiveness of offering an online evidence-based parenting program to promote positive parenting and decrease child anxiety and depression. This multigenerational approach to mental health prevention could potentially help address the growing mental health epidemic among youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
O te peinas, o te haces rolos: Intersectional discrimination, identity conflict, and mental health among Latinx sexual minoritized adults.
Objectives: People of color with minoritized sexual identities (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer) experience identity-based challenges from outside and within their communities. Through the integrative lens of minority stress theory and intersectionality, the present study examined identity conflict, also known as conflicts in allegiances—the perceived incongruence between one’s sexual and ethnic identities—as a statistical mediator of the association between intersectional discrimination (heterosexist discrimination experienced within the Latinx community and ethnic discrimination experienced within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer [LGBTQ +] community) and mental health outcomes (depression and anxiety). Method: A cross-sectional sample of 452 Latinx sexual minoritized adults living in the United States participated in the study. The PROCESS macro (Model 4; Hayes, 2018) was used to test the hypothesis that heterosexist discrimination experienced within the Latinx community and ethnic discrimination experienced within the LGBTQ + community are associated with depression and anxiety indirectly through identity conflict. In each mediation model, outness to family was included as a covariate, along with participant age, education, generation status, and language preference. Results: Approximately 37% of participants had clinically significant depression scores and 54% had clinically significant anxiety scores. As expected, experiences of intersectional discrimination (i.e., Latinx heterosexist discrimination and LGBTQ + ethnic discrimination) were indirectly associated with depression and anxiety through higher levels of identity conflict. Conclusions: Findings increase awareness of unique psychosocial factors that may underlie mental health inequities affecting Latinx adults with minoritized sexual identities. Such knowledge can facilitate the development of culturally responsive interventions that best support this diverse population by addressing intersectional minority stressors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Disentangling the discrimination and mental health relationship among diverse college students: Moderation analyses of shame-proneness across race, gender, and race-by-gender interactions.
Objective: This study investigated shame-proneness as a moderating risk factor within the relationship between perceived discrimination and mental health outcomes. Moderation across race, gender, and race-by-gender intersections was also examined. Method: Bayesian analysis was employed to examine moderation among African, Latinx, and Asian descent college students (N = 295). Results: Shame-proneness had a moderating role contingent on participants’ social identities. Higher shame-proneness moderated the discrimination–anxiety relationship for the African American sample and African American women and moderated the discrimination–depression relationship for African American women and men, respectively. Conclusions: The present study advances our understanding of the association between discrimination and negative mental health outcomes. African American participants with high shame-proneness were uniquely impacted by discrimination. Researchers, clinicians, and university officials are encouraged to develop culturally informed interventions and services to support this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
The Symbolic Racism Scale and the Modern Sexism Scale: Testing measurement invariance in diverse samples.
Objectives: The present study examined the measurement invariance of the Symbolic Racism Scale (SRS) and the Modern Sexism Scale (MSS) across racial/ethnic and gender groups. Previous psychometric evaluations of the SRS and MSS scores have not examined the equivalence across racial/ethnic and gender groups or have been otherwise statistically inadequate. Therefore, this study sought to fill this gap. Method: To establish measurement equivalence across racial/ethnic (Black, Latinx, and white) and gender (women and men) groups, we conducted a measurement invariance analysis of the SRS and the MSS in a large, diverse sample (N = 719). Results: We found that the SRS and MSS were invariant across gender, and the SRS was invariant across racial/ethnic groups. However, the MSS was noninvariant across racial/ethnic groups. Partial invariance testing revealed nonequivalent factor loadings between Black and Latinx participants compared to white participants on an item of the MSS that referenced “unwarranted” attention that women receive from the government and media. Conclusions: Researchers should consider reevaluating the item that reads: “Over the past few years, the government and news media have been showing more concern about the treatment of women than is warranted by women’s actual experiences.” Future research is needed to assess how the item is interpreted by Black and Latinx people so it can be modified for use in these communities. Our findings underscore the importance of assessing the validity of the scores in commonly used scales across diverse groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
At the intersection of intersectional identity and microaggressions: An examination of the experiences and identity of sexual and gender diverse BIPOC individuals.
Objectives: Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) live at the intersection of identities that produce idiosyncratic experiences of marginalization. Existing theories often rely on single-axis (e.g., SGD or BIPOC) or additive/multiplicative (e.g., SGD + BIPOC/SGD × BIPOC identity scores) frameworks that fail to capture unique intersectional identity phenomenon experienced by SGD–BIPOC communities. Additionally, the bulk of research focuses on the negative experiences of SGD–BIPOC and misses opportunities to quantitatively examine resilience factors (i.e., intersectional identity affirmation) and how they co-occur with other intersectional identity phenomenon (i.e., conflicts in allegiances) to serve as protective factors against adverse mental health outcomes. The present study examined the co-occurring experiences of intersectional identity phenomenon and how it may influence negative mental health outcomes and intersectional microaggression distress (IMAD). Method: We conducted a latent profile analysis among 418 SGD–BIPOC to identify profiles based on co-occurring intersectional identity phenomenon (i.e., identity cohesion, identity-based growth, and conflicts in allegiances). We then tested to see if profiles differed on IMAD, anxiety, and depression. Results: Analyses yielded two distinctive profiles: High Identity Conflict and High Identity Cohesion. The relationship between IMAD and mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression) was moderated by latent profile membership. Conclusions: Our findings provide quantitative evidence on intersectional identity affirmation as a resilience factor for SGD–BIPOC communities, thereby expanding existing theories. Implications for research, clinical practice, and social justice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Daily association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms among ethnically diverse adolescents: Ethnic identity as a predictor and a buffer.
Objectives: The present study assessed the association between daily racial discrimination and depressive symptoms over the course of 14 consecutive days, and the predictive and buffering effects of ethnic identity commitment and exploration. Method: Participants were 96 high school juniors and seniors (Mage = 17.45, SE = 1.12) from a low-income urban county, all identifying as non-White (28 Black/African American, 31 Latinx, and 37 non-White other). Over a 14-day period, participants reported daily experiences of racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Baseline ethnic identity was measured approximately 1 month prior to the diary study. Results: Daily discrimination was predicted by higher exploration and lower commitment at baseline. Multilevel models revealed that depressive symptoms were higher on days on which participants experienced more discrimination (within-person association), with no next-day lagged effects. Finally, baseline commitment and exploration weakened, but did not completely eliminate, the correlation between daily discrimination and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The study underscores the need to use momentary or daily assessments of discriminatory experiences to understand the full impact of minority-related stress. The current results demonstrate that daily discriminatory experiences are not only commonplace but that ethnic identity alone may not be enough to combat the negative impact of these experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed in the unique context of adolescent development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology - Vol 31, Iss 1