Rosalie Corona

College students experienced various disruptions to their daily life and changes to their physical and mental health because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much remains unknown about protective factors that could buffer the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx college students’ mental health. Cross-sectional survey data collected during the pandemic was used to explore whether global sleep quality mediated associations between COVID-19 factors (i.e., negative experiences and racial/ethnic bias) and mental health outcomes (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms), and whether perceived social support and attitudinal familismo support served as moderators of this association. The current study included 490 Latinx college students (M_age = 19.1, 72.9% female). The mediation model had acceptable fit: χ² (df = 4) = 11.243, p = 0.024; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.99, SRMR = 0.01. Mediation results indicated that negative COVID-19 experiences (β = 0.12, 95% CI [0.09, 0.16], p = 0.001) and COVID-19 racial/ethnic bias (β = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.07], p = 0.023) were associated with worse global sleep quality, and, in turn, more severe mental health outcomes. There were no significant moderation effects. Implications for possible interventions to support Latinx college students’ mental health, and future directions are discussed.

Background/Objectives: Research regarding the relationship between insomnia symptoms and self-regulated eating behaviors in Hispanic populations is limited, particularly that pertaining to emerging adulthood (18–25 years old) and the potential role of cultural factors. The present study explored the association between insomnia symptoms and self-regulated eating behaviors in a Hispanic emerging adult sample, as well as the role of acculturative stress. Methods: Participants who identified as Hispanic between the ages of 18–25 years old and were English-speaking completed an online survey assessing insomnia symptoms, self-regulated eating behavior, and acculturative stress. Results: In a multiple regression analysis, insomnia symptoms emerged as a significant predictor of self-regulated eating behavior such that Hispanic individuals with increased insomnia symptoms were more likely to report low self-regulated eating behavior. Furthermore, it was found that acculturative stress partially mediated the association between insomnia symptoms and self-regulated eating behavior. Conclusions: Insomnia symptoms are a risk for problematic eating behaviors in Hispanic emerging adults. Identifying other early risk factors, including culturally unique risks like acculturative stress, may be important for the development of tailored early intervention efforts to reduce problematic eating patterns.

Many LGBTQ+ emerging adults experience rejection from their family of origin. Family rejection is a stressor that contributes to worsened mental health for LGBTQ+ emerging adults. Supportive relationships with others can be an important protective factor for LGBTQ+ emerging adults as they cope with family rejection. The bond and interactions LGBTQ+ pet owners have with their pets may provide love, comfort, and support, similar to the relationship they may have with a human attachment figure. This quantitative study aimed to test pet attachment as a moderator of the association between family rejection and mental health in a sample of LGBTQ+ emerging adults. We collected survey data from 201 18–25-year-old LGBTQ+ pet owners living in the state of Virginia. After testing several moderation models using the PROCESS macro in SPSS, we found that pet attachment was not a significant moderator of the relation between family rejection and mental health symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, psychological distress). The findings suggest that pet attachment may not be a protective factor for LGBTQ+ emerging adults who experience family rejection, although these findings should be interpreted in light of the characteristics of our sample and limitations of the study. We recommend that future researchers explore alternative moderators or test these associations among LGBTQ+ individuals in other developmental periods.

Being resilient and hopeful in the face of adversity can promote health and academic outcomes. We sought to determine whether religiosity and family functioning pre-pandemic predicted resilience and hope during the pandemic in a sample of 105 African American and Latinx college students with asthma (Mage = 19.09 years, SD = 1.01). Participants completed an online survey prior to the pandemic and one during the pandemic. In simple regressions, controlling for age, race/ethnicity, gender, and asthma control, greater religious commitment, better family functioning, and less COVID-19 impact were associated with higher resilience scores. Only greater religious commitment was associated with higher hope scores. In a hierarchical regression predicting resilience from all variables, religiosity and family functioning were associated with resilience above and beyond COVID-19 impact and covariates. Findings highlight the importance of family functioning and religiosity—two cultural factors that are salient in African American and Latinx communities—in resiliency and hope.

Objective: This study evaluated caregivers’ stress and depressive symptoms, and children’s asthma control, before COVID-19 began and after its onset among families in the RVA Breathes program. Methods: The RVA Breathes intervention, which took place in an urban city in the United States, includes asthma education delivered by a community health worker (CHW), a home assessment, and school nurse components. Participants included 125 children (5-11 years) with asthma and their caregivers (48% household income<$25,000) enrolled prior to the pandemic. Families were randomized to an active intervention arm (full intervention or intervention without school nurse component) or the control group. Caregivers completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); children and caregivers completed the Childhood Asthma Control Test (cACT). Assessments pre-COVID-19 were compared to those completed after the pandemic’s onset. Results: Children in both intervention groups had better cACT scores after the start of COVID-19 compared to before (t(55)=-2.131, p=.019; t(28)=-2.893, p=.004). Caregivers in the intervention groups had lower PSS scores after the start of COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 (t(53)=3.928, p<.001; t(28)=2.568, p=.008). Furthermore, CES-D scores improved among caregivers in the full intervention (t(48)=1.789, p=.040). Caregivers in the control condition did not report significant changes in stress or depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Findings suggest that support from interventionists, including CHWs, might have alleviated stress and depressive symptoms during COVID-19, as well as improved asthma control during the pandemic.

Exposure to microaggressions can have detrimental impacts on the mental health of LGBTQ + emerging adults. Positive social relationships are a well-documented protective factor that help to buffer the impact of adversity on mental health in this population. However, the role of social relationships with pets has received minimal attention in research on LGBTQ + mental health, despite the high prevalence of pets in U.S. households. This cross-sectional study examined whether the association between interpersonal microaggressions and depressive symptoms among LGBTQ + emerging adults varied as a function of attachment to pets across three domains: love, emotion regulation, and personal growth. We recruited 163 LGBTQ + emerging adults (18-21 years) who lived with a cat and/or dog within the past year (98.8% sexual minority, 47.2% gender minority, 37.4% racial/ethnic minority). We found that love and emotion regulation significantly moderated the positive association between interpersonal microaggressions and depressive symptoms. Specifically, this association was only significant when love and emotion regulation were at moderate or high levels. These findings have important implications for practice with LGBTQ + pet owners, as it suggests that high levels of pet attachment may amplify the relation between interpersonal microaggressions and depressive symptoms.

This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on tobacco use and mental health in US African American and Latinx college students with asthma. Associations among asthma control, tobacco use, and m...

Latinxs have the highest prevalence of obesity in the United States, which can further contribute to the pervasive disparities in morbidity and mortality. Although the experience of discrimination is associated with obesity in racial/ethnic minorities, mediators and moderators of this association, specifically among Latinx emerging adults, have been understudied. The present study investigated an individual-level mediator (eating disorder symptoms) and cultural moderators (familismo support, ethnic identity affirmation) of the association between perceived discrimination and body mass index (BMI) among Latinx emerging adults. Secondary analysis was conducted using cross-sectional data obtained from 198 Latinx emerging adults (70% female, Mage = 20.59, SDage = 1.78). Participants who reported greater, as opposed to fewer, experiences of ethnic discrimination were likely to report more eating disorder symptoms, which in turn was associated with increased BMI. There was no evidence supporting familismo support or ethnic identity affirmation as moderators, suggesting that even those with high levels of familismo or ethnic identity were susceptible to the negative consequences of the experience of ethnic discrimination. Addressing health-compromising eating behaviors and attitudes among Latinx emerging adults might be one effective means to addressing the negative consequences of discrimination on weight-related outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).