(PS6-80) Hope and Acculturation Dissonance as Potential Moderators of the Links between Neighborhood Violence and Internalizing Symptoms Among Latinx Youth

Abstract Text: Neighborhood violence is associated with a host of adverse mental health outcomes in youth. Interestingly, however, not all individuals exposed to neighborhood violence exhibit symptoms of depression or anxiety, indicating the presence of factors that may either increase or decrease the risk for these mental health issues. There is a notable lack of research examining the variables that could potentially mitigate the negative impact of neighborhood violence. Further, neighborhood violence disproportionately affects Latinx youth when compared to their non-Latinx White peers, with less research looking at culturally sensitive variables that may contribute to negative outcomes. To help address this gap in the literature, the current study examines acculturation dissonance and hope as potential moderators in the links between exposure to neighborhood violence and internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) in a sample of Latinx youth (n=134). Drawing from the model of child development for ethnic minority populations, proposed hypotheses are as follows: (a) high levels of exposure to neighborhood violence will be associated with elevated symptoms of both depression and anxiety, (b) Acculturative dissonance is expected to exacerbate the effects of neighborhood violence on internalizing symptoms, such that high levels of neighborhood violence combined with high levels of acculturative dissonance will be associated with the highest levels of both depression and anxiety and (c) Elevated levels of hope will help to mitigate the adverse effects of exposure to neighborhood violence, such that the positive association between neighborhood violence and internalizing symptoms will be weaker at high levels of hope in comparison to low levels of hope. Bivariate correlations suggest that feelings of anxiety were negatively correlated with feelings of hope (r = -0.362, p = <.001). Depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with feelings of hope (r = -0.414, p = <.001), and neighborhood violence was positively associated with symptoms of acculturation dissonance (r = 0.210, p = .016). Neighborhood violence was not associated with anxiety or depression (r = .109, p = .218; r = .140, p = .109, respectively). Linear regression models suggest that neither acculturation dissonance nor hope statistically significantly moderated the relations between neighborhood violence and symptoms of depression (β =0.68, p =0.408; β =-0.029, p =0.738; respectively) or anxiety (β =0.011, p =0.898; β =-0.074, p =0.418; respectively). These results highlight the need for interventions that enhance hope as a protective factor against symptoms of anxiety and depression, given its significant negative association with both. Additionally, the findings emphasize the importance of addressing neighborhood violence and challenges of acculturation and hope independently, as their interaction did not significantly predict mental health outcomes, suggesting that other factors may be more influential in moderating these relationships.