Acculturation Stress Magnifies Child Depression Effect of Stressful Life Events for Latinx Youth 3 Years Later

Experiences of stressful life events (SLEs) during childhood are associated with greater risk for youth psychopathology. Although SLEs are reported in greater frequency by Latinx families, Latinx populations remain largely absent in the SLE literature. Furthermore, Latinx populations face added stressors related to sociopolitical climate, acculturation, and racism and discrimination. The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection between parentreported SLEs and acculturation (i.e., sociopolitical climate-related) stressors for Latinx youth. Greater frequency of caregiver reported SLEs were hypothesized to predict higher depressive symptoms in their children 3 years later, and acculturation stress was hypothesized to amplify these effects. The community-recruited, low-income sample for this study consisted of 198 Latinx caregivers (98.5% mothers, 77.3% foreign-born) and their children (M_age = 7.4, 47.5% female). Study hypotheses were tested usingMPlus. Consistent with prior literature, more SLEs reported at age 7 by parents were associated with more child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 but only among boys.However, for both boys and girls, therewas a significant interaction between acculturation stress and family SLEs. Specifically, as the amount of acculturation stress reported at age 7 increased, the negative impact of family SLEs on child-reported depressive symptoms at age 10 was magnified, regardless of gender. Adding to the literature on SLEs within Latinx families, these results indicate that acculturation and sociopolitical climate stressors need be considered in discussions of the effects of life stress on Latinx youth and their families.