Culture Specific Influences on Anxiety in Latino Youth

Abstract

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates that Latino children and adolescents are at risk for higher anxiety relative to youth of other ethnicities. However, to date, very little research has been conducted to examine culture specific mechanisms of anxiety in Latino youth. Objective: This study explored whether strict adherence to Latino cultural values emphasizing maintenance of group harmony, familismo and simpatia, in combination with poor awareness and identification of negative emotions predicts increased anxiety among Latino youth. Method: Familismo, simpatia, poor emotion awareness, and anxiety were measured in a mixed clinically anxious (n = 27) and non-clinical (n = 20) sample of 7–13 year-old Latino children. Anxiety was measured through self-report and mother report. Results: Two way interactions between familismo and simpatia, and between poor emotion awareness and simpatia predicted anxiety level. Graphs of the interactions indicated that the combination of high levels of each variable was associated with the highest levels of child-reported anxiety, while high familismo in the context of low simpatia was associated with low anxiety levels per child and parent report. In contrast, low simpatia in the context of poor emotion awareness was associated with low mother-reported child anxiety. Conclusions: Strict adherence to cultural values emphasizing family cohesion and positive interdependent social experiences in combination with poor emotion awareness are linked to anxiety in Latino youth.