Family Connections and the Latino Health Paradox: Exploring the Mediating Role of Loneliness in the Relationships Between the Latina/o Cultural Value of Familism and Health

ABSTRACT

This study aims to understand Latina/o health from a social relationships perspective. Specifically, a major goal of the study is to explain how despite disadvantages (e.g., lower income and less education), Latinas/os in some cases have superior health compared to non-Latina/o whites, a phenomenon known as the Latino Health Paradox. Based on the central role of familial relationships in Latina/o culture, and utilizing Hawkley and Cacioppo’s theoretical model of loneliness and health as a foundation for the study, the premise underlying this research is that the Latina/o cultural value of familism has a beneficial impact on health via reduced loneliness. Participants were 255 adults who identified as Latina/o (N = 139) or non-Latina/o white (N = 116), ranging in age from 19–88. Results indicate that being Latina/o predicted strong endorsement of familism, that predicted lower loneliness, and lower loneliness subsequently predicted better overall health, mental health, and health practices. These results suggest that the cultural value of familism provides health-related benefits for Latinas/os, which contributes to understanding the Latino health paradox. Results also underscore the value of including loneliness in studies examining the impact of cultural values on health, as only loneliness had statistically significant direct associations with all three health outcomes.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Ford Foundation and by the University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute (SBSRI). Special thanks to Dr. Jaime Fatas, Associate Professor in the University of Arizona Department of Spanish and Portuguese, for help with English-to-Spanish translation of the survey and recruitment materials. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Jake Harwood and Dr. Steve Rains in the University of Arizona Department of Communication for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study will be available on request from the corresponding author.

IRB approval

This study and its procedures were approved by the University of Arizona IRB (Human Subjects Protection Program). Please see supplemental file “Familism Loneliness and Health Study IRB Approval”.

Notes

1. The term Hispanic, Latina, and Latino are often used interchangeably in research on the Latino health paradox and other health topics. See Gallo et al. (2009) for a more detailed explanation. The term Latinx has also been increasingly used; however, only about 3% of those who traditionally identify as Hispanic, Latina, or Latino use this term to self-identify (Noe-Bustamante, Mora, et al., 2020). Accordingly, Latina/o is used throughout the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ford Foundation [Funding not specific to the study (broad use)]; University of Arizona [SBSRI Summer Dissertation Completion Fellowship].