A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis of the Indirect Effects of Restrictive Immigration Policy on the Self-Esteem of Latinx Early Adolescents Via Dimensions of Ethnic-Racial Identity

Background and Purpose:

The effects of restrictive immigration policy on individuals’ psychological well-being have been demonstrated in research, yet the longitudinal processes connecting such policies to individual outcomes are not well-understood. Furthermore, little is known about how early adolescents may engage in these processes. Building on research grounded in the rejection-identification model (RIM), which posits that exposure to ethnic-racial discrimination perpetuated by the dominant societal group can foster positive ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development and psychological well-being, the aim of this study was to test a longitudinal mediation model linking the individual effects of Senate Bill 1070 (SB 1070), a restrictive immigration policy implemented in Arizona in 2010, dimensions of ERI (namely centrality, positive affect, and public regard), and global self-esteem within a sample of middle school students in an urban area.

Methods:

Data were collected from a two-wave survey of 487 early adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 14 years (mean = 12.10 years), who were of Mexican (n=348), Puerto Rican (n=13), and other Hispanic, Latinx, or Spanish origin (n=126) descent. Most students (90%) qualified for free or reduced lunch, 52% were female, and 84% were U.S.-born. A parallel multiple mediation model, in which the longitudinal effect of youths’ T1 self-report ratings of being personally affected by SB 1070 on T2 global self-esteem was mediated by the T2 ERI variables of centrality, positive affect, and public regard, was tested in SPSS using the PROCESS macro.

Results:

Mediation analyses indicated that T1 self-report ratings of being affected by SB 1070 were significantly related to T2 ethnic-racial positive affect, but not to T2 ethnic-racial centrality or public regard, after controlling for T1 ethnic-racial identity measures. Similarly, only T2 ethnic-racial positive affect was significantly associated with T2 global self-esteem, after controlling for T1 global self-esteem. Finally, there was a significant indirect effect of being affected by SB 1070 at T1 on global self-esteem at T2 when mediated by T2 ethnic-racial positive affect. This effect held when controlling for T1 measures of the mediating and outcome variables.

Conclusion and Implications:

Results indicate that being affected by SB 1070 had long-term indirect effects on Latinx early adolescents’ self-esteem via ethnic-racial positive affect. This finding lends support to the RIM, in that exposure to ethnic-racial discrimination via being affected by SB 1070 led to an increase in later positive ethnic-racial positive affect, which in turn was associated with an increase in self-esteem. Study results imply that after a restrictive immigration policy is implemented, interventions can boost immigrant youths’ self-esteem by promoting their positive feelings about their ERI. Future studies may expand on the results of this study by testing the effects of different types and levels of policy – for instance, policies supportive of immigration or local- or national-level policies pertaining to immigration. In addition, similar models should be tested on other early adolescent immigrant groups to better understand whether and how a policy targeting a specific immigrant group can have effects that extend to all immigrant groups.