Depressive Symptoms and Resilience among Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining the Moderating Effects of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Family Cohesion, and Social Support

Abstract

Emerging adulthood has been described as a difficult stage in life and may be particularly stressful for Hispanic emerging adults who are disproportionately exposed to adversity and chronic sociocultural stressors. To better prevent and treat depressive disorders among Hispanic emerging adults, more research is needed to identify and understand modifiable determinants that can help this population enhance their capacity to offset and recover from adversity and sociocultural stressors. As such, this study aimed to (1) examine the association between resilience and depressive symptoms among Hispanic emerging adults, and (2) examine the extent to which intrapersonal resources (e.g., mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation strategies) and interpersonal resources (e.g., family cohesion, social support) moderate the association between resilience and depressive symptoms. To examine these aims, 200 Hispanic emerging adults (ages 18–25) from Arizona (n = 99) and Florida (n = 101) completed a cross-sectional survey, and data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses. Findings from the hierarchical multiple regression indicate that higher resilience was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Findings from the moderation analyses indicate that family cohesion, social support, and emotion regulation strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) functioned as moderators; however, mindfulness and distress tolerance were not significant moderators. Findings from this study add to the limited literature on resilience among Hispanics that have used validated measures of resilience. Furthermore, we advance our understanding of who may benefit most from higher resilience based on levels of intrapersonal and interpersonal resources.

Keywords:

• Cognitive reappraisal
• interpersonal resources
• intrapersonal resources
• positive adaptation
• reserve capacity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Carlos Estrada, Diana Gutierrez, and Irma Beatriz Vega de Luna for their work in recruiting participants. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health.

Disclosure statement

All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest and do not have any financial disclosures to report.

Additional information

Funding

Preparation of this article was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [K01 AA025992], the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [U54 MD002266], and the National Institute on Drug Abuse [R03 DA041891].