Neighborhood characteristics and ataque de nervios: the role of neighborhood violence

Abstract

Ataque de nervios is a Latina/o idiom of distress that may occur as a culturally sanctioned response to acute stressful experiences, particularly relating to grief, threat, family conflict, and a breakdown in social networks. The contextual factors associated with ataque de nervios have received little attention in research. This study examined the association between neighborhood factors and the experience of ataque de nervios among a sample of Latinas/os participating in the Latino Health and Well-Being Project in the northeastern United States. We examined the association between neighborhood cohesion, safety, trust, and violence and ataque de nervios. In multivariate logistic regression models, neighborhood violence was associated with ataque de nervios ( p = .02), with each unit increase in the neighborhood violence scale being associated with 1.36 times greater odds of experiencing ataque de nervios. None of the other neighborhood variables were significantly associated with ataque de nervios. The positive association between neighborhood violence and the experience of ataque de nervios makes a further case for policy efforts and other investments to reduce neighborhood violence.

Social support and strain and emotional distress among Latinos in the northeastern United States

“…However, unlike depression or anxiety episodes, which tend to be generalized and prolonged conditions, episodes of ataque de nervios are shorter and occur in response to specific, socially-accepted triggers [ 15 , 16 ]. Ataque de nervios is a marker of social vulnerability, or the structural factors (such as poverty, discrimination, and immigration status) that adversely affect certain populations and which are themselves associated with emotional distress [ 14 , 17 , 18 ]. In Latino populations, ataque de nervios is a marker for both the aforementioned structural factors and for interpersonal conflict (such as social strain), and is a culturally acceptable way of expressing distress [ 14 , 17 , 19 ].…”

“…Ataque de nervios is a marker of social vulnerability, or the structural factors (such as poverty, discrimination, and immigration status) that adversely affect certain populations and which are themselves associated with emotional distress [ 14 , 17 , 18 ]. In Latino populations, ataque de nervios is a marker for both the aforementioned structural factors and for interpersonal conflict (such as social strain), and is a culturally acceptable way of expressing distress [ 14 , 17 , 19 ]. Expressing ataque de nervios might therefore be indicative of socioeconomic and interpersonal vulnerabilities that necessitate assistance.…”

Culture-bound syndromes, idioms of distress, and cultural concepts of distress: New directions for an old concept in psychological anthropology

“…There was heterogeneity within each study site regarding possible meanings of any single idiom of distress and differences across sites in their interpretations and uses. For example, some idioms of distress identified in an earlier study in the area by Keys et al (2012) were not familiar to the participants in Lichtenberg et al's study, and the latter were more likely to recommend biomedical treatments for idioms of distress.…”

“…Fabian and colleagues’ study exemplifies the use of rigorous quantitative methods to assess locally developed scales for use alongside adapted mental health screening tools or when combined into an emic–etic assessment tool (for examples of similar work, see also: Hinton et al, 2019; Patel et al, 1997; Rasmussen et al, 2015: Watson et al, 2020). In their contribution, Ginzburg et al (2022) apply an idiom of distress scale to examine neighborhood-level associations with a well-studied idiom of distress, ataque de nervios , finding that it is associated with levels of neighborhood violence. Such studies help to bring idioms of distress into psychiatric epidemiology and provide an example of Kohrt et al’s (2014) call for ensuring that our mental health assessments capture what matters most to people.…”

Exploring social and environmental predictors of school engagement among first‐ and second‐generation Latino youth: A multidimensional approach

“…Racial residential segregation has been widely documented and while same‐ethnicity communities can be protective, particularly for immigrants (Xie & Baumer, 2018) on some indicators, the systemic nature of racism is such that Latino immigrant families disproportionately live in neighborhoods and attend schools with high rates of violence and poverty (Ludwig‐Dehm & Iceland, 2017). Exposure to neighborhood violence and community trauma have been linked to adverse educational and health outcomes (Elsaesser et al, 2020; Ginzburg et al, 2020). However, prior research has not focused on the experiences of immigrant families from Latin America specifically.…”