Ethnic Discrimination and Heart-Focused Anxiety Among Hispanic Young Adults: Effects on Anxious Arousal, Depression, and Fatigue

Hispanic young adults in the United States experience disproportionate mental and physical health disparities, including elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Perceived ethnic discrimination has been identified as a key contributor to these disparities, exacerbating stress-related symptoms and worsening overall well-being. Heart-focused anxiety, or the fear of potential negative consequences of cardiac-related symptoms, may be an additional cognitive-affective amplifier for mental and physical health symptoms. However, the independent and interactive effects of perceived ethnic discrimination and heart-focused anxiety on mental health among Hispanic young adults remain unclear. The current study sought to examine the main and interactive effects of perceived ethnic discrimination and heart-focused anxiety on symptoms of general depression, anxious arousal, and fatigue severity among a sample of Hispanic young adults. Participants included 193 (83.4% female; mean age = 22.81 years, SD = 5.81) Hispanic college students from a single university who completed an online survey for extra credit in any of their psychology courses. Block sequential regression models were utilized to analyze the data. Results indicated that both perceived ethnic discrimination and heart-focused anxiety were statistically significantly associated with greater symptoms of general depression (p < 0.001), anxious arousal (p < 0.001), and fatigue severity (p < 0.001). Additionally, there was a statistically significant interaction effect for anxious arousal, such that perceived ethnic discrimination was associated with greater anxious arousal among individuals with higher levels of heart-focused anxiety (p = 0.018), but not among those with lower levels. The current findings highlight the distinct and interrelated roles of perceived ethnic discrimination and heart-focused anxiety in terms of common and often impairing mental and physical symptoms among Hispanic young adults. Clinically, such could guide the development of future research and of specialized intervention strategies for Hispanic young adults.