Resilience and traumatic stress among Latinx english language learners: a cross-sectional study of students from an urban school district.

BACKGROUND

Latinx students in the United States can face stressors and structural inequities that can lead to poor academic and mental health outcomes. They comprise 76% of the English Language Learner (ELL) population, yet little is known about the relationship between ELL status and traumatic stress and resilience outcomes among these Latinx students. We sought to see if resilience differs between ELL vs. non-ELL Latinx students, and if traumatic stress risk modifies the association between ELL designation and resilience among Latinx students to inform culturally relevant school resilience interventions and school-wide approaches for this population.

METHODS

We analyzed deidentified school district administrative and survey data from a convenience sample of mostly Latinx 6-12th graders from one large, urban U.S. school district. We restricted our sample to Latinx students, resulting in a sample of 4,950 students attending 91 middle and high schools. We constructed linear regression models to understand differences in internal and external resilience based on ELL status, traumatic stress risk, and their interaction.

RESULTS

Among students with low traumatic stress risk, ELL students had worse self-efficacy but better problem solving than their non-ELL peers. When considering students with high traumatic stress risk, ELL students had better problem solving, self-awareness, perceived school support, and total internal assets, relative to non-ELL students.

CONCLUSIONS

Latinx students designated as ELL may demonstrate resilience despite adversity; these resilience assets may be further amplified among the subset of students at high risk for traumatic stress. Our findings may inform school resilience interventions and school supports for ELL Latinx students.