Rumination, Depressive Symptoms, and Anxiety Among Latinx College Students: The Moderating Role of Familism and Respect

Abstract

Familism, a core cultural value among Mexican Americans, often serves to protect Latinx individuals from negative mental health outcomes as compared to their non-Latinx peers. Yet, its moderating effect on passive coping strategies, particularly rumination, has been called into question. This study explores how familism, alongside another key cultural value, respect, may provide a more nuanced understanding of how collectivist cultural values work to protect mental health differently across individuals and contexts. In a sample of 191 Latinx college students, regression analyses tested whether familism and respect moderated the effect of rumination on symptoms of depression and anxiety. While familism significantly predicted depressive symptoms, and anxiety, it did not moderate the relationship between rumination and depressive symptoms or anxiety. On the other hand, respect was found to moderate the relationship between rumination and depressive and anxiety symptoms in a buffering way: as rumination increased, those with higher levels of respect experienced fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those with lower levels of respect. These findings demonstrate that there are limitations to the moderating effect of familism for Latinx college students and that the cultural value of respect may offer a protective effect that warrants further investigation.