Primary Submission Category: Social/relational factors
Past-year victimization, the victim-perpetrator relationship, help-seeking, and mental health outcomes among Latines: A moderated-moderation analysis
Authors: Francesca Korte, Carlos Cuevas, Carmel Salhi, Alisa Lincoln,
Presenting Author: Francesca Korte*
Hostility and intolerance toward the Latine community are not new phenomena in the United States (US), but these sentiments have increased in recent years. A growing literature has linked anti-Latine and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies to greater victimization risk and poorer mental health in this population. However, little is known about how these factors shape, and are shaped by, Latine norms and scripts, including if and why Latines seek help following a victimization experience. Drawing from epidemiological and sociological theories, this moderated-moderation analysis examines the links between victimization experiences, the victim-perpetrator relationship, help-seeking, and mental health outcomes among US Latines. Data come from the Longitudinal Examination of Victimization of Latinos (LEVEL), designed to understand patterns of bias- or hate-motivated victimization and trauma among Latines (N = 323) living in San Diego, CA, Houston/Galveston, TX, and Boston, MA. We consider two conditional effects—help-seeking (yes/no) and the victim-perpetrator relationship (perpetrator was family vs. was not family)—on the relationship between past-year victimization experiences and mental health outcomes. We anticipate several important findings. First, individuals who experienced victimization will have worse mental health than those who did not. Second, individuals who sought help will have better mental health than those who did not. Finally, individuals who sought help and were not victimized by a family member will have better mental health than those who did not seek help and were victimized by a family member. This analysis is grounded in the premise that constraints on the choice to identify, disclose, and seek help for victimization experiences exist on a spectrum. By considering victimization type and the victim-perpetrator relationship, this work will both deepen our understanding of help-seeking behaviors and also add important nuance to patterns of mental health outcomes among Latines who have experienced victimization. Furthermore, conceptualizing these phenomena as occurring within the context of anti-Latine and anti-immigrant US social context will illuminate how rhetoric and policies of exclusion can impact Latines’ risk of experiencing victimization, and the extent to which they exercise their personal agency and opportunities to engage in help-seeking.