To date, not much is known about why past research has found that Latino youth report higher levels of internalizing symptoms than White non-Latino youth. At a more basic level, our current understanding of phenomenology of internalizing problems in Latino youth is limited. This study explored the relationship among anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms and investigated the influence of cultural acceptability on somatic symptom expression within a school-based sample (5th through 8th grade) of Latino and White non-Latino youth. Anxiety and depression uniquely explained variability in somatic symptom expression. Contrary to past research, Latino and White non-Latino youth did not report different somatic symptoms levels. Cultural acceptability did not vary by ethnicity. Cultural acceptability also did not predict somatic symptoms. Exploratory analyses were conducted including African-American youth and with male only samples. Cultural acceptability predicted somatic symptoms among the male only samples. Future studies should further explore possible interactions between gender and culture on the expression of psychological distress.
