This study compares the machismo attitudes among Hispanic and Anglo college students in two Southwestern universities. A machismo assessment survey instrument was created by the researchers to identify the degree to which the two populations differed on the construct. The findings indicate that although differences do exist, they are not as pronounced as some researchers might expect. Gender markers may be just as significant as cultural markers when studying machismo. The researchers suggest that further refinement of the Macho Belief Inventory (MBI) could lead to new studies that would improve our understanding of difficulties in interpersonal, relational, and intercultural communications when machismo attitudes and beliefs are involved.

Background Adolescents use social media for information on medical and social aspects of maturation. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the concerns and information needs of adolescents regarding menarche and first sexual intercourse. Methods Questions about menarche or first sexual intercourse were obtained from Yahoo Answers, a community-based social media question-and-answer website. A total of 1226 questions were analyzed. We focused on 123 question pairs made by users who asked questions on both topics and reported their ages at each. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on these question pairs. Results Qualitative analysis identified uncertainty as a significant theme for both menarche and first intercourse. Quantitative analysis showed that uncertainty was expressed in 26% (13/50) of menarche questions and 14% (7/50) of intercourse questions. Lack of communication was expressed in 4% (2/50) of menarche questions, compared with 8% (4/50) of intercourse questions. Ages at menarche and at first sexual intercourse were correlated, with women reporting menarche at the age of 13 years or younger being 2.6 times more likely to experience first sexual intercourse before the age of 16 years ( P <.001, chi-square test). Older age at menarche was associated with greater lack of communication with parents (analysis of variance, P =.002). Conclusions The questions of adolescents on the topics of menarche and first sexual intercourse express anxiety and uncertainty and are associated with a lack of information and deficient communication with parents. The more normative and expected a behavior, the less these factors appear. Therefore, parents and educators should, to the extent possible, improve communication around these topics, especially when they occur at less typical ages.

Objective: We investigated how cultural shifts occur with respect to the use of traditional medicine for influenza-like illness (ILI) within the Latino population near the US-Mexico border. Methods: We extracted searches of ILI treatments (modern, traditional western, and traditional Hispanic) to the Bing search engine from 5 US states near the US-Mexico border. The incidence of these searches was correlated with county-level demographic data and ILI incidence. Results: The fraction of queries related to Hispanic medicines is correlated with the distance from the US-Mexico border (Spearman rho =-0.24), which is a slower decay than that observed in the use of Spanish (Spearman rho =-0.35). Demographic and socioeconomic factors predict different searches for ILI treatments. Conclusions: People of Hispanic origin rely on traditional Hispanic medicines when treating ILI. Medical providers should guide their patients when such treatments might be clinically detrimental to patients, and know their patients are likely using such medicines.