Acculturative Stress and Suicide-Related Cognitions Among Latine Christians: What is the Role of Religiosity? (Board#1)

Abstract : Previous work has shown a significant disparity in the utilization of mental health services by Latine populations (Buitron et al., 2023; Marrast et al., 2016) who also report elevated depression and anxiety symptoms (Jiménez et al., 2024; Mayorga et al., 2021), indicating an increased need for treatment. Further, depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with increased suicidal ideation and behaviors; therefore, the disparity in mental health treatment for Latine populations is concerning. Acculturation, the process of adapting to a new culture, is a unique stressor that affects multicultural populations (including Latine populations). Previous studies have demonstrated a positive association between bicultural stressors and suicidality (Polanco-Roman et al., 2023; Bae, 2019), while others have yielded inconsistent within-person findings (Romero et al., 2020). Similarly, religiosity has been found to be both a protective factor as well as a risk factor for suicidality (Boyas et al., 2019; Caplan, 2019; Lopez et al., 2023). The aim of the current study is to clarify the relation between acculturative stress and suicide-related cognition and examine whether religiosity moderates this relation. We hypothesized that religiosity would significantly weaken the relation between acculturative stress and suicide-related cognitions.

The sample includes 379 undergraduate students who identified as Latine and Christian. Participants were recruited through the online university research platform and were compensated with class credit. The Riverside Acculturation Stress Inventory (RASI; Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005) assessed acculturative stress; the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS-15; Huber & Huber, 2012) assessed religiosity; and the Suicide Cognitions Scale (SCS; Rudd et al., 2010) assessed suicide-related cognition, which has been strongly associated with elevated suicide risk. A moderation analysis was conducted in SPSS, adjusting for age.

There was a significant main effect of acculturative stress (b = .19, p < .05); however, there were no other significant main effects other than age (b = .36, p = .046), and the interaction between acculturative stress and religiosity was not significant, counter to our hypotheses.

In conclusion, religiosity did not moderate the relation between acculturative stress and suicide-related cognitions. Nonetheless, the results suggested a positive relation between acculturative stress and suicide-related cognitions, which is consistent with previous research (Polanco-Roman et al., 2023; Bae, 2019). This implies that, as acculturative stress increases, there is a higher risk for suicidality. Perhaps early intervention for acculturative stress in Latine populations could be utilized to decrease the likelihood of suicidality. Of note, the current study’s sample consisted of college students, who may generally report lower levels of religiosity (Bryant et al., 2003; Exline et al., 2022). Further research is warranted to examine the potential moderating effect of religiosity using a Latine sample with a wider age range.