Gender Norms, Discrimination, Acculturation, and Depressive Symptoms among Latino Men in a New Settlement State

Abstract

Purpose: Drawing from major theoretical and conceptual frameworks on minor­ity men’s mental health, we designed the current observational study to assess the as­sociations of gender norms, discrimination, and acculturation with clinically significant depressive symptoms (CESD≥16) among a sample of immigrant Latino men in North Carolina.Methods: We used data from a baseline survey of men (n=111) recruited for a peer-led health intervention. To assess the associations with depressive symptoms, we performed descriptive and bivariate analy­ses, followed by multiple logistic regression.Results: Men in the sample tended to be young (mean age 18.5 years), recent immigrants (70.3% immigrated after age 16), and to have incomplete high school education (76.5%). About half (51.4%) reported experiencing discrimination due to their ethnicity and more than a third (37.8%) reported experiencing discrimina­tion due to their race. Using the short form Conformity to Masculine Norms instrument, their mean masculinity score was 52.0; their average 12-item Short Acculturation Scale for Latinos score was 21.8. More than one-quarter of participants (26.1%) had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Multiple logistic regression models showed among this sample of immigrant Latino men in the Southeast, traditional masculine norms—but not perceived discrimination nor accul­turation—were associated with clinically significant depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Our results suggest a potential future avenue for intervention research: testing whether changing gender norms could result in improvements to mental health.Ethn Dis. 2020;30(4):519-524;doi:10.18865/ed.30.4.519