Associations Between Negative Context of Reception and Depressive Symptoms Among Immigrant Latino Men: The Moderating Effect of Machismo and Hispanicism

Abstract

This study examines the cumulative effects of negative context of reception (NCR), traditional Latino gender norms, and acculturation on depressive symptoms among adult Latino immigrant men, and if levels of acculturation and traditional Latino gender norms moderated associations between NCR and depressive symptoms in the study sample. Hierarchical Multiple Regression (HMR) and moderation analyses were conducted on a cross-sectional sample of 280 Latino men. Predictor variables were entered into the HMR model: (1) demographic variables, (2) perceived stress, (3) acculturation and gender norms, and (4) NCR. Subsequently, moderation analysis was conducted using PROCESS v3.2 model 1. 19% of the variance of depressive symptoms was explained by all predictor variables entered in the HMR model. Moderation analyses revealed significant interaction effects with machismo (exacerbating) and Hispanicism (attenuating) the association between NCR and depressive symptoms. Study findings have implications for culturally appropriate interventions that target gender norms among Latino immigrant men.