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Objectives: We tested an extended family stress model of economic hardship (FSM; Conger et al., 2010) incorporating structural risks (discrimination, immigration, and COVID-19 experiences) and qualitative data, to better understand the impact of culturally relevant experiences on family stress processes in rural, immigrant Latine families in the U.S. Midwest., Method: Participants were Latine families (N = 307) with a child aged 10-15 ( M age = 12.21 years, 51.0% boys; 71.5% two parent; 93.1% of caregivers and 29% of youth born outside the United States) Mean household income was 25-30K and 65% of caregivers had less than a high school education. We tested a cross-sectional structural equation model in Mplus and analyzed qualitative interviews with a subsample of mother-youth dyads ( n = 19)., Results: COVID-19 experiences predicted economic pressure, and both COVID-19 and discrimination experiences were linked to caregiver psychological distress. Consistent with the FSM, economic pressure predicted psychological distress, which was associated with interparental relationship problems and parenting. Parenting was associated with youth global health. Unexpectedly, interparental relationship problems to parenting were not significant. The indirect association linking COVID-19 experiences to youth global health via psychological distress and parenting was significant. Qualitative data revealed five themes demonstrating how structural and economic risks contributed to distress, conflict, and maladjustment within the family system., Conclusions: Culturally relevant structural risks exert a negative influence on family processes in rural Latine immigrant families through contributing to economic pressures and parental distress. The additional impact of these experiences should be considered when addressing the FSM in Latine populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 De Moor et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18-25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

The COVID‐19 pandemic had significant health and socioeconomic repercussions for Latine immigrant families and their children due to long‐standing social, economic, and immigration‐related inequities, with rural families particularly vulnerable. In particular, the mental health and well‐being of Latine youth may have been detrimentally impacted due to disproportionate family stressors and burdens. In the present study, we examined the effect of parent and youth COVID‐19 pandemic stress on youth mental health, and in turn, on youth well‐being using quantitative and qualitative data. Participants were Latine youth in rural and agricultural families in the US Midwest (N = 210, Mage = 12.10 years, 52.4% male, 36.2% first‐generation immigrants) and a primary caregiver (86.5% mothers, 92.7% first‐generation immigrant, mean income = 25‐30 K) as well as n = 19 dyadic qualitative interviews. Quantitative analyses revealed that both youth and primary caregiver COVID‐19 stressors were associated with youth mental health problems, and indirectly impacted five domains of youth well‐being (engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness). Qualitative findings provided insights into how the COVID‐19 pandemic increased stress for mothers and children (e.g., job loss and economic hardship, COVID‐19 infection, online education challenges). The study demonstrates how the environmental context of the COVID‐19 pandemic shaped the individual and family‐level functioning of Latine immigrant families during this uniquely challenging time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]