Yearly and Daily Discrimination-Related Stressors and Mexican Youth's Mental Health and Sleep: Insights From the First Wave of a Three-Wave Family Study

Objective: Research is needed to examine discrimination-related stressors and their social and psychological shaping of mental health and sleep outcomes of Latinx youth. The background, design, and methodology of a longitudinal study of Mexican families in Indiana and the initial findings of associations between discrimination-related stressors and youth mental health and sleep outcomes are presented.

Method: Initiating wave 1 of a 3-wave (yearly) longitudinal study, investigators surveyed an ethnically homogeneous sample of 344 Mexican-origin adolescents (ages 12-15) and their primary caregivers, assessing risks and protective factors for mental health and sleep outcomes. Youth also completed a one-time 21-day daily diary after wave 1. Self-reported measures of youth mental health, sleep, and discrimination across wave 1 and the daily diary were evaluated to compare the cross-sectional (wave 1) and daily associations between discrimination and youth mental health and sleep outcomes.

Results: Of youth, 88.1% reported at least one incident of lifetime discrimination. Almost one-third had elevated depressive symptoms, 44.5% had probable generalized anxiety disorder, and 50.9% had poor sleep quality. Between-youth correlations at wave 1 and in the daily diary were consistent in that perceived racial discrimination was positively correlated with worse mental health and poorer sleep quality. Smaller within-youth correlations were observed in the daily diary, but there was striking variability in the effect of discrimination across youth.

Conclusion: The present results illustrate the powerful methods of combining yearly and daily time data to investigate how and for whom discrimination-related stressors lead to adverse outcomes.

Plain language summary: Latinx youth are the largest and fastest growing minoritized youth group in the United States. This study surveyed 344 Mexican-origin adolescents and their primary caregivers to assess risk and protective factors for mental health and sleep outcomes. The authors found that 88.1% of youth reported at least one incident of lifetime discrimination, 29.7% reported elevated depressive symptoms, 44.5% reported elevated anxiety symptoms, and 50.9% reported poor sleep quality. Youth who experienced racial discrimination were more likely to have worse mental health and lower sleep quality than those who did not experience racial discrimination.

Diversity & inclusion statement: We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. We actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our author group. While citing references scientifically relevant for this work, we also actively worked to promote inclusion of historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science in our reference list.

Clinical trial registration information: Seguimos Avanzando - Latino Youth Coping With Discrimination; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT04875208.