Coloniality and Ethnic Variation in Psychological Distress Among US Latinx Immigrants

To address ethnic variation and potential cross-cultural measurement error in diagnostic criteria, this study extends on the racialized ethnicities framework to examine how Latinxs’ self-reported psychological distress differ among ethnic groups. Utilizing data from the National Health Interview Survey, logistic regression models and partial proportional odds models assessed differences in likelihood of self-reporting frequent anxiety, depression, and psychological distress among Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, and Central and South American immigrants. Membership in Caribbean Latinx ethnic groups, and the Puerto Rican ethnic group in particular, was significantly associated with higher predicted probabilities of frequent anxious and depressive feelings, and severe psychological distress, relative to membership in non-Caribbean Latinx ethnic groups. This work highlights the need for research on Latinxs to disaggregate among ethnic groups, and proposes the existence of a gradient of exposure to the psychosocial consequences of US coloniality that might explain some of these variations.