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Undergraduate Student Responses To Arizona’S “Anti-Ethnic Studies” Bill: Implications For Mental Health, Andrea J. Romero, Anna O. Oleary

Anna Ochoa OLeary

Over the past thirty years Mexican American adolescents have had the highest rates of depressive symptoms, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. This troubling statistic reveals a significant need to understand the broader ecological risks for the mental health of Mexican-descent youth. Discrimination—unfair treatment due to one’s race/ethnicity—has been associated with higher levels of stress, more depressive symptoms, and lower self-esteem (Meyer 2003). In our study we examined the mental health of Mexican-descent students in relation to the anticipated passage of legislation designed to eliminate ethnic studies programs. We discovered that although these students experienced …