Investigating the Association between Acculturation and Depressive Symptoms among Hispanic Americans

Rincon Caicedo, Mariana

Publication

Investigating the Association between Acculturation and Depressive Symptoms among Hispanic Americans

Rincon Caicedo, Mariana

Abstract

Background: Hispanic Americans represent an estimated 19% of the U.S. population. Much like other racial and ethnic minorities, they face disparities related to health and access to healthcare. Nevertheless, they also enjoy some specific health benefits compared to some other racial and ethnic groups. Despite Hispanic Americans reportedly experiencing health benefits related to mortality and morbidity compared to other racial and ethnic groups, the prevalence of depression and other mental health disorders among this community is not well understood. Acculturation is a construct that may account for some of the inconsistent patterns observed in the literature and may further inform the development of appropriate policy and treatment resources to support this population. Objective: To examine the difference in depression symptom severity among Hispanics compared to other races and to clarify the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptomatology among this population. Methods: A series of Bayesian Generalized Linear Mixed Models were conducted on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to compare the depressive symptomatology of Hispanics and non-Hispanics, as measured by the PHQ-9, and examine the possible moderating effect of language spoken at home on depressive symptomatology in this population. Results: Hispanics endorsed significantly more depressive symptoms than non-Hispanics, although Mexican-Americans had lower levels than other Hispanics and similar or lower levels to non-Hispanics. Significant interactions between the variables were found; notably, the differential impact of language spoken at home across genders and age. Exploratory analyses revealed additional risk factors for increased depressive symptomatology among Hispanics. Conclusion: Several different demographic and sociocultural factors have been identified that worsen depressive symptomatology among Hispanics. Acculturation can be a useful construct in understanding both population-level and individual-level risk, in developing culturally-informed interventions, and in implementing community-level changes to prevent and address the burden of depression among this population.