Mexican American Elderly: Self-Reported Anxiety and the Mediating Influence of Family Protective Factors

Abstract

This article describes the results of research study that investigated the relationship between life satisfaction and three primary protective factors—la adaptabilidad, la sabiduría, and pariente—that contribute to family resilience for Mexican American elderly who are experiencing self-reported anxiety. A sample of 135 Mexican Americans aged 65 and older were administered measures to assess self-reported anxiety, life satisfaction, and the three protective factors. Of these, 60 met the cutoff criteria for high anxiety and either high or low life satisfaction and were included in the final analyses. A significant positive relationship was found between higher perceptions of the protective factors la sabiduría and pariente and high life satisfaction. No significant relationship was found between la adaptabilidad and life satisfaction. These results provide support for a position asserting that the degree to which elderly Mexican Americans’ perceive their families to possess certain protective qualities may provide a competence-based focus for mediating adaptation in the presence of self-reported anxiety.

Translation and validation of the Danish version of the brief family assessment measure III in a sample of acutely admitted elderly medical patients

“…There are few studies that have addressed the psychometric properties of the Brief FAM‐III. Four studies have reported reliability values , and two studies have measured discriminant validity and concurrence validity . To our knowledge, there are no studies reporting goodness‐of‐fit indicators for the Brief FAM‐III.…”

“…T‐scores higher than 50 indicate more than average family difficulties, while T‐scores lower than 50 indicate less than average family difficulties . The internal consistency of the Brief FAM‐III was established and reported using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which ranged from 0.74 to 0.94 .…”

“…The clinical utility of the FAM‐III is supported by numerous studies, such as its ability to differentiate between clinical and nonclinical cases . Examples include emotional disturbance , eating disorders , coping with disease , mood disorders , child with epilepsy , and parental role and cultural issues .…”

“…Validity is the degree to which the instrument measures what it intends to measure, while reliability is a measure of consistency. Regarding reliability, the internal consistency of the FAM‐III was reported, using Cronbach's alphas, to range from α = 0.72 to 0.95 across studies . In addition, test–retest reliability was examined, and median coefficients reported from 0.57 to 0.66 with a test–retest delay average of 12 days .…”

“…Because the Brief FAM‐III is less time‐consuming, it can be used for the preliminary screening and repeated measures of family functioning over time or during an intervention . The Brief FAM has well‐established psychometric properties and has been utilised in a number of studies .…”