Psychological Toll of Hate Speech: The Role of Acculturation Stress in the Effects of Exposure to Ethnic Slurs on Mental Health Among Ukrainian Immigrants in Poland

Objectives: Exposure to hate speech can have serious consequences for the mental health of immigrants and minority groups. However, not much is known about the process by which this effect takes place and to what extent it is independent of the effects of other forms of discrimination on health. The present study aimed to investigate whether acculturation stress mediates the relationship between exposure to hate speech and mental health and whether the effect would hold after controlling for experienced discrimination. Method: An online survey was conducted among Ukrainian immigrants living in Poland (N = 726) in order to investigate the relation between exposure to hate speech, acculturation stress, and mental health. Mediation analyses were used to test whether exposure to hateful language predicts posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms and whether these effects are mediated by acculturation stress while controlling for experiences of other forms of discrimination. Results: Exposure to hate speech predicted PTSD and depression symptoms. Both effects were mediated by acculturation stress and were significant after controlling for experienced discrimination. Conclusions: The study provides evidence for the existence of a relation between exposure to hate speech among migrants and mental health problems. The study also provides support for a potential mechanism of this effect: acculturation stress and evidence for the fact that the effect holds over and above the effect of discrimination. Public Significance Statement Being a victim of hate speech can be difficult to cope with for migrants and may result in mental health problems. Acculturation stress was investigated as a potential mechanism for this effect. The more often Ukrainian migrants living in Poland encountered hate speech, the more acculturation stress they felt, which in turn was related to stronger posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms regardless of the level of other forms of discrimination experienced by participants.