Conceptualizing Ethnicity: How Dimensions of Ethnicity Affect Disparities in Health Outcomes Among Latinxs in the United States

Background: This study considers how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect Latinxs’ health outcomes.Methods: Using regression methods to ana­lyze data from the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, we examined how attributional and relational dimensions of ethnicity affect: 1) intragroup differences in Latinx mental and physical health status, as measured by feelings of worthlessness and self-rated health, respectively; and 2) intergroup dif­ferences between Latinxs and non-Hispanic Whites in these health outcomes.Results: Latinxs have higher odds of feelings of worthlessness and lower odds of self-reporting good/excellent health compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, in­tragroup differences in health are observed among Latinxs, conditioned on attributional or relational dimensions of ethnicity.Conclusion: Multidimensional measures of ethnicity that distinguish between charac­teristics associated with ethnicity (attribu­tional) or race (relational) offer a nuanced explanation of health disparities by revealing aspects of ethnicity that shape health out­comes differently, contributing to the goals of health equity.Ethn Dis. 2020;30(3):489-500; doi:10.18865/ed.30.3.489