Fitting in: the roles of social acceptance and discrimination in shaping the daily psychological well-being of Latino youth.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We examine how acculturation experiences such as discrimination and social acceptance influence the daily psychological well-being of Latino youth living in newly emerging and historical receiving immigrant communities. METHODS: We use data on 557 Latino youth enrolled in high school in Los Angeles or in rural or urban North Carolina. RESULTS: Compared to Latino youth in Los Angeles, Latino youth in urban and rural North Carolina experienced higher levels of daily happiness, but also experienced higher levels of daily depressive and anxiety symptoms. Differences in nativity status partially explained location differences in youths' daily psychological well-being. Discrimination and daily negative ethnic treatment worsened, whereas social acceptance combined with daily positive ethnic treatment and ethnic and family identification improved, daily psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis contributes to understanding the acculturation experiences of immigrant youth and the roles of social context in shaping adolescent mental health.