As an immigrant population becomes more prominent in an established culture, research strategies for examining intragroup differences are needed to understand their health care risks and strengths. However, acculturation also must be taken into account. Our objective in this secondary analysis was to identify the most useful acculturation parameter for examining depressive symptoms in relation to strengths and resources among women of Mexican descent living in the United States during the vulnerable perinatal period and to examine other intragroup differences among the women by childbearing status (pregnant or postpartum). Our secondary analysis was done with a subsample of 129 women from a larger cross-sectional study of 315 women of Mexican descent who were recruited from three urban community health centers and an associated bilingual school in the United States. Exposure to the United States in childhood, a poor sense of mastery, and dissatisfaction with life were more related to depressive symptom experience than childbearing status or more traditional demographic variables such as age, income, or education.

Although intrinsic strength factors have rarely been included in research related to depression in women of Mexican descent, they were more directly related to lack of depressive symptoms than traditional demographic risk factors.

The purpose of this study is to test the reliability and validity of a Spanish translation of the Resilience Scale (RS), which was originally created in English by Wagnild and Young (1993). A team of bilingual, bicultural translators participated in the translation process to enhance the linguistic accuracy and cultural appropriateness of the Spanish translation. As part of the convenience sample of 315 women of Mexican descent who participated in the larger study, data from 147 women who preferred to read and write in Spanish were used in this analysis. The English version of the RS consists of a 17-item "Personal Competence" subscale and an 8-item "Acceptance of Self and Life" subscale for a total of 25 items. However, two items had low item-total loadings and were removed to form a modified 23-item RS. The exploratory principal components factor analysis, varimax rotation, and subsequent goodness of fit indices were ambivalent on whether a one or two-factor solution was appropriate, but the chi-square difference test clearly demonstrated that the two-factor solution of the Spanish version was more useful in explaining variance than a one-factor solution. Internal consistency reliability was estimated with Cronbach's alpha (alpha = 0.93) which was acceptable for the 23-item RS as well as its subscales. Construct validity was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation between resilience and life satisfaction (r = 0.36; p < 0.001), and a significant negative correlation between resilience and depressive symptoms (r = -0.29; p < 0.01). This analysis ultimately supports the appropriateness of the modified 23-item Spanish translation of the RS and its subscales in a sample of urban, low-income women of Mexican descent in the U.S.

Aims The aims were to identify the most useful parameters of acculturation in relation to self reported sleep disturbance and describe risk factors for sleep disturbance in women of Mexican descent. Background Little is known about acculturation as a factor for poor sleep in the context of other personal factors such as income or sense of resilience or mastery for Latinas in the United States. Methods These personal factors were incorporated into a modification of the Conceptual Framework of Impaired Sleep to guide our secondary analysis of self-reported sleep disturbance. Cross sectional data from a convenience sample of 312 women of Mexican descent of childbearing age (21-40 years) located in an urban California community were collected and previously analyzed in relation to depressive symptoms and post traumatic stress disorder. The General Sleep Disturbance Scale (in English and Spanish) was used to assess sleep disturbance. Results Early socialization to the United States during childhood was the most useful acculturation parameter for understanding self reported sleep disturbance in this sample. In a multivariate regression analysis, three factors (higher acculturation, lower income, and higher depressive symptoms) were significant in accounting for 40% of the variance in sleep disturbance. Conclusion When low income Latinas of Mexican descent report sleep problems, clinicians should probe for environmental sleep factors associated with low income, such as noise, over-crowding, and exposure to trauma and violence, and refer the woman to psychotherapy and counselling rather than merely prescribe a sleep medication.

Survey methods were used to collect cross-sectional data on PTSD symptoms in the context of resources, risks, and strengths of a convenience sample of 315 low income women of Mexican descent. Women were compared by generation in the US, including Mexico-born women who immigrated as adults (> or =age 18), as teens (age 12-17), or as children (< or =age 12), and US-born women whose parents and/or grandparents were Mexico-born. Results showed that US-born women reported significantly more types of trauma than women who immigrated as adults or teens, and more PTSD symptoms than women who immigrated as adults. Also, one to three times as many women who were exposed to the United States before age 18 reported sexual trauma exposure compared with women who immigrated as adults. In a three-step multiple regression analysis, lack of intrinsic strength factors (13%) accounted for more variance in PTSD symptoms than resources (6%) or risks (10%; p < 0.001).

Whereas few studies with Latina samples include strength factors (resilience, mastery, life satisfaction, and perceived energy level) as variables, even fewer include strength factors together with acculturation in the same study. As part of a larger study, the purpose of this analysis is to describe and examine the relationships between strength factors, risk factors such as acculturation and substance use, resource factors including financial adequacy and education, and the health and illness factor of perceived health status among a convenience sample of 315 low-income women of Mexican descent, ages 21 to 40. Cross-sectional survey data were collected and analyzed. Results show intragroup differences related to the well-being of women of Mexican descent living with low incomes in urban settings.

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