Contextualizing the Experience of Young Latino Adults: Acculturation, Social Support and Depression

Using a sample of 850 South Florida Latinos from the Miami-Dade county area, this study analyzes the effects of acculturation on the mental health of Latinos by testing whether family support mediates or moderates this relationship. For Latinos social support, particularly family support, is of special interest since it serves an important buffering function in mental health because of the importance of family values in this group. All of these research inquiries are investigated in a context where Latinos represented the majority of the population. Findings suggest a significant relationship between acculturation and depression that was mediated by family social support. Moderating effects were not discovered. The study discusses the importance of social context in analyzing the acculturation-mental health relationship and finds a strong association between gender, education and mental health. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Acculturation Risk and Protective Factors and Mental Health Symptoms in Immigrant Latino Adolescents

The aim of this investigation was to map factors that predicted internalizing, externalizing, social, and total behavioral problems in immigrant Latino adolescents. Interviews were conducted with 100 foreign-born Latino adolescents. Multiple regression analyses revealed two risk factors, perceived discrimination and parent-adolescent conflict, which were significant predictors of adolescent internalizing, externalizing, and total problems. Interaction terms indicated that adolescents who were highly involved in Latino culture and who experienced high parent-adolescent conflict were at risk for internalizing problems. Familism was a protective factor associated with lower levels of internalizing and total problems. However, the effect of familism was mediated by parent-adolescent conflict