Poster #18 - Broadening our Understanding of Latina Mothers’ Mental Health via Traditional and Non-Traditional Components of SES

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

Current estimates suggest that approximately 10 - 20% of mothers have at least one mental health concern, and these rates are exacerbated for Latina mothers (Department of Mental Health & Substance Use, 2008;{masked for review}). Motherhood-related stressors are associated with increased mental health risk among Latina mothers ({masked for review}). However, even in the presence of elevated parenting stress and low parental self-efficacy, mental health risk among Latina mothers is not equally distributed with some mothers at greater risk for experiencing these negative associations than others. SES is an identified source of these differences though recent research has highlighted the value of expanding our understanding of SES to include non-traditional components (i.e., subjective social standing [SSS]) ({masked for review}; Espeleta et al., 2019; Franzini & Fernandez-Esquer, 2006). This study, thus, examined the impact of SSS on Latina mothers’ mental health risk. It also contextualized this relation within Latina mothers’ motherhood-related experiences (i.e., parenting stress, parental self-efficacy, hope for child’s future social standing). We expected that Latina mothers with low SSS would be at greater mental health risk than Latina mothers with high SSS in the context of motherhood-related stressors. We also expected that mothers with more hope for their child’s future social standing would have lower mental health risk than mothers with less hope in this context. Further, we hypothesized that these relations would remain even when controlling for more traditional components of SES (i.e., income, perception of available financial resources). To test these hypotheses, this study analyzed data from 132 Latina mothers who completed questionnaires on parental self-efficacy, parenting stress, mental health risk, perceptions of SSS for themselves and their children, net household income, and perceptions of available financial resources. A hierarchical linear regressions approach was used to test these hypotheses. Models were initially tested without the inclusion of the net household income and the perception of available financial resources variables as covariates. These covariates were then added to the models one at a time to test their effect on the relations of interest. Standardized regression coefficients and their corresponding statistical significance were used to interpret pathway results. Simple slope analyses were conducted as appropriate, and results were plotted to facilitate the interpretation of significant interaction effects. Results revealed that Latina mothers’ SSS were not significantly related to their mental health risk, their parenting stress, or parental self-efficacy; however, SSS moderated these relations (Figure 1). Specifically, Latina mothers with low SSS were at increased mental health risk in the context of low parental self-efficacy even when controlling for income or their perceptions of available financial resources. Further, mothers with low parental self-efficacy were at increased mental health risk if they believed that their child could attain upward social mobility (Figure 2), yet this relation was no longer significant when controlling for mothers’ perceptions of available financial resources. These results identify Latina mothers’ at increased risk for diminished mental health and highlight modifiable points of intervention to target in promoting the resilience and well-being of Latina mothers and their families.

Authors

• Thania Galvan, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Eliana Hurwich-Reiss

• Sarah E Watamura, University of Denver