Latino/a young adults’ experiences of acculturative stress,depressive symptoms,and romantic relationship commitment: Ethnic identity as protective

Abstract

We examined the direct and indirect effects of acculturative stress via depressive symptoms on romantic relationship commitment, and the moderating role of ethnic identity (EI) in these associations. Participants included 475 Latino/a young adults (61% women; M _age = 25 years). Using conditional process modeling, we found that Latino/a young adults experiencing acculturative stress displayed greater depressive symptoms, which in turn, resulted in lower relationship commitment. Acculturative stress was also directly related to relationship commitment. EI buffered the negative effects of acculturative stress on relationship commitment. Discussion focuses on the interplay of EI and depressive symptoms for the relationship commitment of Latino/a young adults experiencing acculturative stress.

Keywords

Cultural stress depression ethnic identity Latino/a young adults relationship quality

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