Ethnic Identity and Collective Self-Esteem Mediate the Effect of Anxiety and Depression on Quality of Life in a Migrant Population
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Migration processes can often trigger negative interactions with the context, generating problems in both the physical and mental health of migrants, which have an impact on both their well-being and their quality of life. In this framework, the research aimed to assess the mediating effect of ethnic identity and collective self-esteem on the inverse relationship between mental health problems and quality of life. Data were collected from 908 first-generation Colombian migrants living in Chile, of whom 50.2% were women and with an average age of 35 years. They were assessed with The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL)-Bref, Smith’s ethnic identity questionnaire, Basabe’s collective self-esteem, and Beck’s Anxiety and Depression questionnaires. The results provide evidence that both collective self-esteem and ethnic identity exert a partial mediation effect on the relationship between anxiety and depression on quality of life. The study provides evidence of the protective role that the maintenance and reinforcement of ethnic identity and collective self-esteem can have, with a view to strengthening the planning of interventions both in the field of prevention of mental health problems and in the improvement of quality of life based on evidence.
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Collective racial self-esteem improved quality of life and decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety among Colombian immigrants residing in Chile.
“The findings suggested that collective racial self-esteem improved quality of life and decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety [51].”
From Internalized Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Collective Racial Self-Esteem (2024) · cites this paper as [51]
The Participants section identifies the sample as Colombian immigrants in Chile, and the Results (section 3.3) report that collective self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between depression and quality of life. The Discussion (section 4) describes anxiety and depression as negatively affecting collective self-esteem, not collective self-esteem as decreasing those symptoms. It also states that the cross-sectional design prevents causal conclusions, so the claim that self-esteem improved quality of life overstates the evidence. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHigher collective racial self-esteem has been shown to be a mitigating factor that reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety among immigrant populations.
“Higher collective racial self-esteem has been shown to be a mitigating factor that reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety among immigrant populations [46,50,51].”
From Internalized Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Collective Racial Self-Esteem (2024) · cites this paper as [51]
The Discussion (section 4; page unavailable) describes collective self-esteem as protective against the negative effect of depressive symptoms on quality of life among Colombian migrants. It does not show that higher collective self-esteem reduces depression or anxiety symptoms; it reports that collective self-esteem did not mediate anxiety’s effect on quality of life. The Discussion also says the cross-sectional design precludes causal conclusions. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPrejudice, discrimination, stigma, and other intersecting oppressions have deleterious impacts on Arab/MENA people's livelihoods and quality of life.
“Nonetheless, prejudice, discrimination, stigma, and other intersecting oppressions have deleterious impacts on Arab/MENA people’s livelihoods and quality of life, and thus, a more inclusive construct (e.g., the inclusion of culture, ancestry, and religion) is needed to determine the impact of internalized oppression [39,51].”
From Internalized Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Collective Racial Self-Esteem (2024) · cites this paper as [51]
The Introduction says discrimination negatively affects quality of life and mental health among Colombian migrants in Chile. The Discussion cautions that the study’s results cannot be directly extrapolated to other migrant populations. The paper does not establish the claimed effects on Arab/MENA people’s livelihoods or address stigma and other intersecting oppressions. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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- Authors
- Urzúa, A., Henríquez, D., Caqueo-Urízar, A., & Landabur, R.
- Affiliations
- Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1240000, Chile
- Universidad Católica del Norte (CL)
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile
- University of Atacama (CL)
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-12-24
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 174
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8751200
- OpenAlex
- W4200481911
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (1180315)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
- Keywords
- ethnic identity, collective self-esteem, anxiety, depression, quality of life, migrant mental health, mediation, first-generation immigrants, WHOQOL-BREF, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Female, Humans, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Concept
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