Postpartum depression was studied in 66 multiparous Mexican American women using a prospective longitudinal design. Interviews were conducted at 34 to 36 weeks prenatally and 4 to 6 weeks postpartum. Women expressing prenatal depression were more likely to continue to experience depression postpartum. Other predictors included a high need for postpartum support, specific support network characteristics, acculturation, and poor quality relationships within the family. It is important for the health care provider to assess the presence of depressive symptoms and available social support during the prenatal period and work with Mexican American mothers to increase support and secure help in dealing with daily life stressors.

The study examined two components of a family support program, a mothers' self‐help discussion group and a parent education group, to determine their effects on social support and parenting stress. Findings suggest that, after three months of program participation, mothers in both groups felt less social isolation and parenting stress than did mothers in the control group.

Identifying the structural and behavioral factors that increase the likelihood of the use of oral health services can provide the basis for developing effective interventions specific to Latino children at the neighborhood level. The study findings can be also used for designing culturally appropriate oral health promotion programs and provider coordination of care.

National level data show food insecurity/insufficiency is more common in Latino families than the dominant population, however local ethnic rates aren't often available, nor have there been many studies of food insufficiency/insecurity among Latino ethnic groups. This study presents food insufficiency data from three low income immigrant Latino Chicago communities. Data were collected as part of a larger study of ethnic Latino differences in health and nutrition attitudes/behaviors and child health services use. Face to face interviews were conducted with 320 mothers of Latino children entering school for the first time (mean age 5.5 years). Food insufficiency questions from the Radimer/Cornell and NHANES III instruments were used. Participants were 70% Mexican, 22% Puerto Rican and 8% other Latino, reflecting Chicago Latino distribution. Thirty percent (n = 96) reported household food insufficiency, although most was worry about obtaining food, and was due to lack of money or Food Stamps. Some families experienced more severe food access problems, namely adults and children skipping meals, and adults or children going without food for an entire day. Puerto Rican families reported more severe food insufficiency than Mexican families, but there were few other ethnic differences. Only 30% of these low income food insufficient families were Food Stamp participants although 90% of the children received school meals. These data point to the need for better screening and program outreach for low income, immigrant Latino families.

Two questions were addressed in the present study: Do residential setting of varying levels of constraint influence life satisfaction? Do such settings involve different correlates of life satisfaction? A total of 129 male and female ambulatory residents were surveyed in settings of high and low constraint on the following measures: life, satisfaction, developmental task resolution, self-acceptance, perceived autonomy, activity level, health and educational level. Stepwise regression, covariance, and t-test analyses indicated: (1) life satisfaction and developmental task accomplishment were greater in the lower constraining setting; (2) the selected correlates resulted in multiple correlations of .675 and .590 with satisfaction; (3) differing sets of correlates significantly predicted satisfaction in each setting; health the most important in the high constraining setting and perceived autonomy and self-concept important to the low constraining setting; (4) developmental task success significantly predicted satisfaction in both settings.