Impacts of shared language erosion on ethnic identity and ethnic socialization among first- and second-generation Hispanic immigrant youth

This study applied Bioecological Systems Theory to investigate the impacts of Shared Language Erosion (SLE) on ethnic identity development, family ethnic socialization and anxiety among Hispanic immigrant middle-school-aged youth in a new settlement area. SLE is the loss of fluency in a shared common language between the parent-child dyad that likely has consequences on these processes. The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric poses a risk to immigrant youth’s mental health, necessitating the identification of factors that inhibit the positive effects of family ethnic socialization and ethnic identity development, such as SLE and discrimination. Challenges in ethnic identity development may partly explain why second-generation immigrant youth experience worse health outcomes than their first-generation and non-Hispanic U.S. born peers – a phenomenon known as the immigrant paradox. Multiple group analysis was used to test generational differences; a double mediation model (n=137) to test SLE’s the associations among ethnic identity development (i.e. resolution), family ethnic socialization, and youth anxiety; discrimination, gender, age, and years in the U.S. were modeled as covariates. The results of the multiple group analysis reveal that the two groups were not statistically different (p=.628). SLE was not significantly associated with declines in socialization, or increased symptoms of anxiety. However, family ethnic socialization was significantly associated with ethnic identity development (b=.428, p <.001). Notably, discrimination was significantly associated with resolution (b=.145, p <.05) and anxiety (b=. 409, p <.001). The findings suggest that parents’ ethnic socialization efforts are positively contributing to ethnic identity development, but discrimination is still having a substantive effect on youth anxiety.