Psychological Distress Differentials as a Function of Subjective Social Status among Latino Subgroups in the United States

To investigate the association between subjective dimensions of socioeconomic status and psychological distress, paying particular attention to Latino subgroup differences.

We used data from the Latino sample (N = 2,554) of the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). For our main analyses, we conducted a series of weighted multivariable linear regressions.

The results showed that subjective social status was associated with reduced psychological distress.

There are several key study limitations that warrant consideration. Chiefly, data utilized were cross-sectional; thus, it is unclear whether subjective socioeconomic status (SES) precedes or follows psychological distress.

Overall, our study makes several contributions to the sociological study of mental health differentials among Latinos. We show the importance of the association between subjective SES indicators and psychological distress. We also demonstrate how the associations analyzed in this study varied by Latino subethnicity, which we argue is an important step to fully understand the different social processes associated with the mental health of different Latina/o groups.