Profiles of identity centrality and psychological adjustment among Hispanic/Latine sexual minoritized emerging adults

Abstract

The present study examined how profiles of personal and social (i.e., religious, sexual orientation, U.S., ethnic‐racial) identity centrality were related to psychological adjustment among Hispanic/Latine sexual minoritized emerging adult (SMEA) college students ( N  = 229, M _age  = 19.29, SD  = 1.55, 74.7% female; 48.5% bisexual). Using latent profile analysis, three distinct profiles emerged: institutionally disengaged (43.4%), characterized by low religious and ethnic‐racial identity centrality; fully engaged identity (42.5%) marked by high centrality across all domains; and deindividuated assimilated (14.0%), characterized by high U.S. and religious centrality, and low personal and ethnic‐racial centrality. Profiles differed in adjustment, with the fully engaged identity profile exhibiting the highest psychological well‐being and lower depressive symptoms compared to institutionally disengaged. Deindividuated assimilated reported the lowest psychological well‐being. Findings underscore meaningful heterogeneity in how multiple identities are organized among Hispanic/Latine SMEA and suggest that multidomain identity engagement may be linked to better adjustment, helping to inform culturally responsive prevention and intervention efforts.