Latino youth who are bullied, discrimated are less likely to help others

Racism is an issue that the American society is still dealing with despite the large number of immigrants from different races making up part of the population. According to the United States Census Bureau, white Americans make up 77.4 percent of the population, but blacks and African Americans make up 13.2 percent, while Hispanic or Latinos make up 17.4 percent.

A recent study from researchers at the University of Missouri have found that Latino youth immigrants who feel they have been discriminated against have more depressive symptoms and are less likely to lend a hand six months to a year following the discriminative experience, EurekAlert reports.

Researchers analyzed the responses of 302 Latino immigrants aged 13 to 17, who participated in completing three questionnaires about discrimination experiences, mental health and prosocial behaviors (like helping others) in the span of 12 months. All participants have lived in the United States for at most five years. In order to determine behavioral changes, the researchers controlled the participants' levels of depression and involvement in helping others.

"It's important to consider that experiencing discrimination starts to wear on cognitive and emotional resources that youth may have, which can lead to symptoms of depression, sadness and withdrawal," Alexandra Davis, a doctoral candidate in the MU Department of Human Development and Family Science explained.

"Once they are experiencing these withdrawal symptoms, it becomes harder for them to engage in selfless forms of helping because they have less resources available to give to others, and it works both ways," Davis said. "Experiencing discrimination and becoming more withdrawn and less engaged in helping behaviors, in turn, might contribute to depressive symptoms. It can become a cycle."

Medical Xpress reports that according to study co-author Gustavo Carlo, Millsap Professor of Diversity and Multicultural Studies in MU's College of Human Environmental Sciences, "The reports youth provided on discrimination are not necessarily experiences that have accumulated over a long period of time. This perceived discrimination over a short period of time is already having a significant impact on their mental health and their social functioning. We can only imagine what the effects of discrimination may be like over a longer period of time."

He added that "So many challenges and forces exist that impinge individuals' abilities to care for others, to be compassionate and empathetic toward others."

"For Latino adolescents and racial and ethnic minorities, this research demonstrates that discrimination poses an uncontrollable, additional set of challenges in addition to the challenges everyone experiences, whether financial, academic or interpersonal," he explained.

Researchers recommend that awareness should be widespread, especially among youth, as those from marginalized groups tend to undermine positive social behavior towards others because of discrimination. Researchers also noted that adolescence is a period in which peers are important to the individual, and perceiving such isolation from peers and social groups may affect their development and long-term health.