2 - (SYM 29) Hope, Discrimination, Mental Health and Well-being Across Asian, Hispanic, and African American Adults in the United States

Background: Perceived discrimination contributes to negative outcomes for people of color, including higher anxiety and depression. Research is needed to understand how discrimination may differentially influence mental health outcomes across races/ethnicities. Hope is a psychological resource that may act as a source of resilience in the context of discrimination. It is important to consider how hope may be salient for various cultures, particularly in the context of discrimination. The present study evaluated cross-cultural differences in levels of hope and discrimination and in the relationship between hope, perceived ethnic discrimination, and mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and well-being among Asian, Hispanic, and African American adults.  

Methods: Participants were 2800 adults who identified as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian/ Pacific Islander. Participants completed measures on ethnic discrimination, hope, depression, anxiety, and well-being. Pairwise comparisons using SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM) using Mplus were used to examine cross-cultural differences.

Results: Asian participants reported lower levels of hope than both African Americans and Hispanic adults. African American participants reported the highest levels of perceived discrimination, while Hispanic participants reported the lowest levels of discrimination. SEM analyses revealed similar results across groups as they were constrained to equality. When analyzed simultaneously, hope had unique associations with greater social (β= 0.38, C.I = 0.34:0.42), psychological (β= 0.55, C.I =0.52:0.58), and emotional (β= 0.50, C.I = 0.46:0.53) well-being and lower anxiety (β= -0.19, C.I= -0.23: -0.16), and depression (β=-0.25, C.I= -0.29: -0.21), while discrimination had unique associations with lower emotional (β= -0.13, C.I= -0.17: -0.09) and psychological well-being (β= -0.06, C.I = -0.10: -0.03) and greater anxiety (β= 0.25, C.I =0.23:0.31) and depression (β= 0.22, C.I = 0.19:0.26).

Conclusion: Despite varying levels of hope and discrimination cross-culturally, similar results were found regarding the relationship between hope, discrimination, well-being, anxiety, and depression among Asian, Hispanic, and African American adults. Cross-cultural analysis of risk and resilience factors will allow for a more representative understanding of the mental health needs of communities of color.