Latinas’ internalization of U.S. beauty ideals as a moderator of the relations between appearance-related messages from family members and Latinas’ depressive symptoms

Abstract

Depression is a prevalent concern in Latinas; thus, it is critical that we examine the associations between negative eating and weight messages from mothers, fathers, and sisters, and depressive symptoms in Latinas. We utilized a sample of 195 Latina/Hispanic young women ( Mage = 23.25 years; range = 18–25; SD = 1.93; 67.4% Mexican-origin) to explore the moderating role of Latinas' internalization of U.S. beauty ideals on the associations between negative eating and weight messages from mothers, fathers, and sisters, and Latinas' depressive symptoms. We conducted three hierarchical regression analyses and found that negative messages from each family member (i.e., mothers, fathers, and sisters) and Latinas' internalization of U.S. beauty ideals were significantly and positively associated with Latinas' depressive symptoms. Further, we found that under both high and low internalization of U.S. beauty ideals, there was a positive association between negative messages from sisters and depressive symptoms. However, this association was stronger for those with high internalization of U.S. beauty ideals. Findings from this study further solidify the importance of family members' negative eating and weight messages for Latinas' well-being. Additionally, our study demonstrates that internalizing U.S. beauty ideals is associated with Latinas’ mental health.