Role of Social Support in the Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Discrimination among Latino Immigrants in the USA.

This study aimed to determine both the association between perceived racial discrimination and acculturative stress, and the role of social support in the relationship between discrimination and acculturative stress among three Latino immigrant subgroups. Mexican immigrants had higher acculturative stress (p=0.0007), Puerto Rican immigrants had higher perceived dissemination (p<.0001), and Cuban immigrants had higher social network (p=0.0009) and higher family cohesion (p<0.0001) than their sub-groups counterparts. While family cohesion was negatively associated with acculturative stress among Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants (p=0.0088 and p=0.0007, respectively), social network was not related to acculturative stress (p=0.3170 and p=0.0971, respectively). However, among Mexican immigrants, social network was negatively associated with acculturative stress (p=0.0285) and family cohesion was not related to acculturative stress (p=0.0833). Among Cuban and Mexican immigrants, while family cohesion moderated the association between discrimination and acculturative stress (p=0.0316 and p=0.0076, respectively), social network did not play a moderating role (p=0.4509 and p=0.1482, respectively). Conversely, social network moderated the relationship between discrimination and acculturative stress among Puerto Rican immigrants (p=0.0086). However, family cohesion did not play a moderating role among Puerto Rican immigrants (p=0.5818). Findings suggest that family cohesion was found to be a moderating factor in reducing acculturative stress associated with discrimination among Latino immigrants. Interventions enhancing social support may reduce acculturative stress among Latino immigrants experiencing high discrimination.