The Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican Americans and Anglos

Abstract

The study reports epidemiologic field survey data on the distribution of depressive symptoms among Anglos (n = 637) and two Mexican-American subsamples (n = 551) living in Santa Clara County, California. One of the Mexican-American subsamples was interviewed in English (n = 330) and the other in Spanish (n = 221). Analysis of variance indicated that those with low educational achievement, females, those in disrupted marital statuses, and those under 30 years of age had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than their counterparts. The prevalence of depressive symptoms for the Anglo and Mexican-American English-speaking samples was very similar and much lower than that reported by the Spanish-speaking Mexican-American subsample. Differences in educational levels appear to be accounting for many of the variations in depressive symptoms between the Anglo and English-speaking subsamples and the Spanish-speaking one. The authors suggest that the lack of language skills along with low educational achievement may be indicating a relative lack of acculturation and societal integration which in turn may be accounting for some of the increased symptoms among the Spanish-speaking subsample. The results of multiple stepwise regression analyses indicate that age, sex, marital status, and educational attainment explain relatively low and fluctuating amounts of the total variance. These analyses also indicate that social and demographic factors are differentially related to depressive symptoms for each of the subsamples. The variables education, female, and separated were significant in all of the equations, but their order of entrance and the amount of variance explained by them varied.

Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Depressive Symptoms Among Young Adolescents

“…Some studies have shown minimal differences among ethnic groups with regard to depression, 21 whereas other studies have found depression to be more prevalent among African American adolescents than other adolescents, 8 and still others have found it to be less prevalent among African American youths. 22 Data on depression among Hispanic youths have been mixed, 23,24 and previous research on Asian American adolescents has shown that Asian American adolescents are at a high risk for depression. Given the variability in results, these questions warrant further research.…”

The association of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with perceived quality of life in a biethnic population: the San Luis Valley Diabetes Study.

“…Some studies have explored how psychological distress, depression, or other indicators ofmental health relate to acculturation in Hispanics; however, the results ofthese studies are inconsistent, with no clear indication ofthe direction ofthe association. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The biethnic population studied in the San Luis Valley Diabetes Study provided a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between quality of life and non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White subgroups.…”

Traditional sex roles, ethnic integration, marital satisfaction, and psychological distress among Chicanas

“…For example, Kandel et al (1985) demonstrated that more educated women in New York City were less likely to experience depression than their less educated peers. Vega et al (1984) found identical results among Anglos and both English-and Spanish-speaking Chicanos in a California county.…”

“…For example, Radloff (1975) reported that women less than 25 years of age were more likely to experience depression than older women. In addition, Vega et al (1984) observed a negative relationship between age and psychological distress among Anglos and Chicanos in a California county, although this association was only significant for the former group. Similarly, Ross et al (1983c) found that older individuals were less likely to experience psychological distress than their younger neighbors in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez area.…”

“…By the same token, it has been demonstrated that Chicanos, particularly women, acculturated into Anglo society report higher levels of mental health; Ortiz and Arce (1984) argued that unacculturated Chicanos are likely to experience higher levels of stress than their more acculturated peers because the former are more likely to encounter stressful situations such as low socioeconomic status, immigration status, language barriers, and discrimination. Indeed, Vega et al (1984) found that Chicanos interviewed in Spanish and having low levels of English proficiency and education--thus, supposedly less acculturated--reported more psychological symptoms than Anglos and Chicanos interviewed in English in a California county. Also, Fabrega (1970) found that Chicano outpatients who had low levels of acculturation experienced more severe mental health than those with higher acculturation levels.…”