3 - (IOP 10) Familism Congruency and Mental Health Outcomes Within Hispanic/latinx Youth and Their Parents in the ABCD Study®

The United States (US) has a growing Hispanic/Latinx population, in which Hispanic/Latinx youth comprise 26% of the under-18 youth population. Hispanic/Latinx youth are at an increased risk for psychological distress and poor mental health outcomes, such as negative moods, stress, social isolation, poor relationships, and risky behaviors. Additionally, being a second or third-generation immigrant, as most of the US Latinx/Hispanic youth are, is associated with poorer mental health outcomes compared to foreign-born Hispanics/Latinxs. Given the risks Hispanic/Latinx youth face and the multiple barriers to receiving services, there is an interest in identifying and leveraging existing cultural strengths and values, such as familism, to improve mental health outcomes. Familism is a cultural value that indicates the importance of family support, obligation to the family, and considering family opinions. Upholding familism values is associated with fewer internalizing symptoms, less deviant behaviors, and higher self-esteem in youth. Tailoring interventions, such as CBT, to incorporate familism can be helpful in engaging minoritized youth. To leverage this cultural value within treatment, understanding the context and conditions in which familism remains protective for Hispanic/Latinx youth is essential to maximize the strength of the familism value rather than exacerbating challenges.

Using a sample from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study℠ (ABCD), this study explores (a) how mental health symptoms and familism differ depending on youth’s nativity (US-born vs foreign-born) within Hispanic/Latinx youth, (b) whether levels of familism predict positive mental health outcomes, and (c) the effect of familism congruency between parent-youth dyads on youth mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 1,955 Hispanic/Latinx identifying participants aged 10-13 years, recruited across 22 US sites from the ABCD Study®. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to address study aims, accounting for the nesting of individuals within families (i.e., siblings, twins) and study sites. Covariates included age, sex at birth, parental education, household income, neighborhood safety, race, and time between assessments.

Findings indicated important considerations for leveraging familism as a cultural value when working with youth in therapeutic settings. We found that youth familism values are important and protective against poor mental health outcomes (internalizing, β = -0.149, p < 0.001; externalizing, β = -0.088, p = 0.044). However, context matters. Among youth, greater value in familial support, respect, and obligation to the family without emphasizing the household value can lead to worse outcomes (internalizing, β = 0.015, p < 0.001; externalizing, β = 0.165, p < 0.001). These results show that it may be even more important for parents to value familism, regardless of the youth’s individual value of familism. Thus, leveraging familism goes beyond working with the youth in a therapeutic setting and highlights the importance of helping foster familism within the family system holistically rather than individually.