Longitudinal Effects of Negative Ethnic-Racial Identity Affect on Internalizing Symptoms in Youth of Latiné Background Exposed to Interpersonal Trauma

Sunita M. Stewart, PhD ; Nazan Aksan, PhD ; Andrea Bancroft, BS ; Jeffrey D. Shahidullah, PhD ; Savannah M. Krantz, BA ; Madelyn Guerra, MS ; Jessica Sandoval, MD ; Cynthia Garza, PsyD ; Andres G. Viana, PhD ; Myesha Morgan, PhD ; Cecilia DeVargas, MD ; Justin F. Rousseau, MD ; D. Jeffrey Newport, MD ; Karen Dineen Wagner, MD, PhD ; Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD

J Clin Psychiatry 2025;86(2):24m15654

Abstract

Objectives: Latiné youth in the US are at elevated risk for trauma exposure, but factors that contribute to their symptoms are not well studied. We examined the effects of interpersonal trauma (IPT) burden and negative affect about ethnic-racial identity (NERI-A) on internalizing symptoms following trauma exposure.

Method: Participants were 1,006 US-born youth of Latiné background (mean age 15.4 years, 60% female at birth, and 70% identified as White) from the Childhood Trauma Research Network, a research consortium examining long-term outcomes of childhood trauma in Texas. Participants were enrolled between October 2020 and February 2024. Analyses controlled for sex, age, race, non-interpersonal trauma, whether parents were of the immigrant generation, and mental health treatment received.

Results: Greater IPT burden and higher baseline NERI-A were associated with greater baseline anxiety (P < .001, P = .026) and depressive (P < .001, P = .040) symptoms. The effect of baseline IPT burden on direction and magnitude of longitudinal change in anxiety (0.038) and depression (0.002) differed for those with high NERI-A vs low NERI-A. In the context of low NERI-A, IPT burden showed steady or decreasing associations with symptoms over time. In contrast, for those reporting high NERI-A, IPT burden showed strengthening associations with both anxiety and depression over time.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the vulnerability of youth who experience IPT and report NERI-A. Further research is needed to determine how NERI-A develops, changes, and is moderated in the diverse groups of individuals of Latiné descent.

J Clin Psychiatry 2025;86(2):24m15654

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