The Longitudinal Impact of Discrimination on Attention Problems in Latinx Immigrant Youth: Examining the Roles of Somatic Symptoms and Social Support

Abstract

Youth with attention problems are at significantly higher risk of a wide range of negative outcomes, including academic underachievement, occupational challenges, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Exposure to early adversity, including racial/ethnic discrimination, has been identified as an important risk factor of cognitive impairment, including the development of attention problems. Though significantly understudied, Latinx immigrant youth may be at elevated risk of these negative consequences given their disproportionately higher levels of exposure to discrimination through the immigration and acculturation process. However, a dearth of research has examined the relationship between discrimination and attention problems in this population, and even less is known about potential mediators, such as the manifestation of emotional distress as somatic symptoms, that may help to explain the link between discrimination and attention problems in Latinx immigrant youth. Research is also needed to examine potential moderating factors, such as social support, that may help to protect against the deleterious effects of discrimination on somatic symptoms and attention problems. Using an existing dataset gathered in the Adolescent Latino Acculturation Study (ALAS), the present study address these gaps in the literature by applying a race-based traumatic stress theory and stress and coping model to examine: (a) the direct relationship between perceived discrimination and attention problems, (b) whether somatic symptoms partially mediate the link between perceived discrimination and attention problems, (c) the possible moderating effect of social support on these relationships, and (d) secondary exploratory analyses investigating the influence of time in U.S. residency on the theorized link between discrimination and attention problems in a sample of 218 Latinx immigrant youth living in Oregon.