Abstract
Problem Significance: Poor mental health is a serious public health concern that impacts Latinx youth across the country. Mental health disorders like anxiety and depression are on the rise among the growing population of Latinx youth. Many Latinx youth are undergoing acculturation, which can lead to acculturative stress. This includes the pressures and stressors that accompany the experience of adapting to new cultures or balancing varying cultures at once. Acculturative stress can worsen mental health among this population.
Analysis and Objectives: ¡Identidad! is informed by theoretical constructs such as ethnic-racial identity, sense of self, group work, critical consciousness, and exploration. ¡Identidad! is also informed by previous successful interventions that are based on cultural competency and specificity. Intervention objectives are aimed at reducing acculturative stress and improving mental health outcomes.
Intervention (Solution) Proposal: There is a clear need for an intervention to support the unique mental health challenges that Latinx youth face. ¡Identidad! is a school-based group program that utilizes purposeful structured activities to strengthen ethnic-racial identity which will have a positive impact on psychological well-being including decreased acculturative stress, and thus, anxiety and depression.
Recommendations and Conclusions: Intervention facilitators should be of Latinx descent so there is some baseline relatability among participants and facilitators. It’s important for facilitators to establish trust with participants since the intervention will involve serious topics such as family issues, mental health, and identity. The intervention will prepare Latinx freshmen with tools and strategies to explore and strengthen their ethnic-racial identity and improve their psychological well-being.