Negative Problem Orientation, Future Orientation, and Pessimism Matter for Multigroup Latinx Adults Living in the US: Identifying Robust Expectancy Predictors of Depressive Symptoms and Psychological Pain Among the Invisible

The Latinx population in the U.S. is heterogenous, and little is known about the mental health of individuals who identify with multiple Latinx backgrounds, or multigroup Latinx. To expand on prior work focused on monogroup Latinx adults, we examined the role of established general outcome expectancy variables (viz., optimism, hope, problem orientation, & future orientation) in accounting for two outcomes commonly associated with greater suicide risk, namely, depressive symptoms and psychological pain, in a sample of 136 (n = 104 female; 76%) adults identifying with multiple Latinx groups (e.g., Dominican-Puerto Rican). Results of regression analyses indicated that the set of outcome expectancy variables examined accounted for large amounts of variance in both depressive symptoms and psychological pain in this group. Using dominance analysis, we identified negative problem orientation as the most robust predictor of both outcomes. For depressive symptoms, pessimism and future orientation emerged as additional robust predictors. For psychological pain, future orientation emerged as an additional robust predictor. These findings make clear that there is value in distinguishing between different outcome expectancy variables in accounting for mental health in multigroup Latinx adults and also point to the importance of focusing on specific outcome expectancies when working with this subgroup of Latinx adults experiencing depression symptoms and psychological pain.