Culture, Context, and Mexican American Mental Health

描述(由申请人提供)：这项提案寻求持续5年的持续支持，对墨西哥裔美国青年经历的高水平精神病理学的过程进行纵向研究。根据NIMH战略计划(2008)中的优先事项，这项研究旨在(1)绘制墨西哥裔美国青年的精神疾病轨迹图，(2)通过确定导致风险和复原力过程的个人、环境和社会因素，提高我们预测这一群体中谁有精神疾病风险的能力，(3)确定导致墨西哥裔美国人心理健康差距的因素，以及(4)为为这一群体设计下一代预防干预措施提供科学基础。从750个墨西哥裔美国家庭的不同样本开始，本研究检验了关于个人文化取向与家庭、社区、同伴和学校背景特征的交互作用如何影响这一人群的心理健康负担的假设。这项研究的一个独特方面是评估儿童和父母的文化取向(即对墨西哥传统文化价值观的认可程度和对美国文化价值观的认可程度)，以及社区和学校对这些文化传统的支持程度。孩子和他们的父母最初是在孩子5年级和7年级时被评估的。结果支持了具体目标：(1)儿童和父母的文化取向的变化与更大的精神健康障碍风险有关；(2)家庭特征，如亲子冲突，在文化取向不匹配与儿童精神疾病之间起中介作用；(3)儿童和父母的文化取向缓冲了共同风险因素(如经济困难)与儿童心理健康之间的关系。拟议的延续将评估这一样本的儿童及其父母，因为青少年经历了青春期中期(10年级和12年级)的快速发展变化，当精神病理比率加快时。具体目标仍然是：(1)儿童与家庭、社区和学校环境之间的文化不匹配将与精神病风险有关；(2)家庭和同龄人群体进程将调解文化不匹配与精神病理学之间的关系；(3)儿童及其父母的文化取向将调节风险因素与精神病理学之间的关系。对这些目标的纵向测试将为下一代预防计划提供坚实的基础，以减少墨西哥裔美国人的心理健康差距。公共卫生相关性：这项对750名墨西哥裔美国青少年及其父母的纵向研究从公共卫生的角度来看是重要的，因为墨西哥裔美国青少年经历了心理健康差距，而且对导致这些差距的因素了解有限。这项研究的目的是(1)绘制墨西哥裔美国青年的精神疾病轨迹图，(2)通过确定导致风险和复原力过程的个人、环境和社会因素，提高我们预测这一人群中谁有精神疾病风险的能力，(3)确定导致墨西哥裔美国人经历的心理健康差距的因素，以及(4)为为这一人群设计下一代预防性干预措施提供坚实的科学基础，以减轻这一人群中精神病理学的个人、家庭和社会负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal seeks 5 years of continued support for a longitudinal study of processes that contribute to the high levels of psychopathology experienced by Mexican American youth. Consistent with priorities in the NIMH Strategic Plan (2008), this study is designed to (1) chart mental illness trajectories of Mexican American youth, (2) increase our capacity to predict who in this population is at risk for mental illness by identifying individual, environmental, and social factors that contribute to both risk and resilience processes, (3) identify contributors to the mental health disparities experienced by Mexican Americans, and (4) provide a scientific foundation for the design of the next generation of preventive interventions for this population. Beginning with a diverse sample of 750 Mexican American families, this study tests hypotheses regarding how interactions of individuals' cultural orientations with characteristics of family, community, peer, and school contexts contribute to the mental health burden of this population. A unique aspect of this study is the assessment of cultural orientation (i.e., degree of endorsement of traditional Mexican cultural values and degree of endorsement of U.S. cultural values) of children and parents as well as the degree to which communities and schools support these cultural traditions. Children and their parents were assessed initially when children were in 5th and 7th grades. Results supported the specific aims: (1) changes in children's and parents' cultural orientations are related to greater risk for mental health disorders; (2) family characteristics, such as parent-child conflict, mediate the relation between cultural orientation mismatches and children's psychopathology; and (3) child and parent cultural orientations buffer relations between common risk factors (e.g., economic hardship) and children's mental health. The proposed continuation will assess this sample of children and their parents as youth experience the rapid developmental changes of middle adolescence (grades 10 and 12) when rates of psychopathology accelerate. The specific aims remain: (1) cultural mismatches between children and family, community, and school contexts will be related to risk for psychopathology; (2) family and peer group processes will mediate relations between cultural mismatches and psychopathology; and (3) cultural orientations of children and their parents will moderate relations between risk factors and psychopathology. Longitudinal tests of these aims will provide a strong foundation for the next generation of prevention programs to reduce mental health disparities for Mexican Americans. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This longitudinal study of 750 Mexican American adolescents and their parents is important from a public health standpoint because of the mental health disparities Mexican American adolescents experience, and the limited knowledge about factors that contribute to these disparities. This study is designed to (1) chart mental illness trajectories of Mexican American youth, (2) increase our capacity to predict who in this population is at risk for mental illness by identifying individual, environmental, and social factors that contribute to both risk and resilience processes, (3) identify contributors to the mental health disparities experienced by Mexican Americans, and (4) provide a firm scientific foundation for the design of the next generation of preventive interventions for this population in order to reduce the individual, family, and societal burden of psychopathology within this population.