Culture, Context, and Mexican American Mental Health

摘要 这项提议寻求5年的持续支持，对有助于 墨西哥裔美国青年经历了高度的精神病理。与NIMH中的优先事项保持一致 战略计划(2008)，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)通过识别个人，提高我们预测这一人群中谁有精神疾病风险的能力， (3)确定影响风险和复原力进程的环境因素和社会因素 墨西哥裔美国人所经历的精神健康差距，以及(4)为 为这一人群设计下一代预防性干预措施。从多样化的 在750个墨西哥裔美国家庭的样本中，这项研究检验了关于 个人的文化取向与家庭、社区、同龄人和学校环境的特点有关 这一人群的心理健康负担。这项研究的一个独特方面是对文化的评估 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)以及社区和学校支持的程度 这些文化传统。孩子和他们的父母最初是在孩子5岁和7岁时被评估的 成绩。结果支持了具体目标：(1)儿童和父母文化取向的变化是 与较大的精神健康障碍风险有关；(2)家庭特征，如亲子冲突， 调节文化取向错配与儿童心理疾病的关系；以及(3)儿童 和母公司文化取向缓冲了共同风险因素(例如经济困难)和 儿童的心理健康。拟议的延续将评估这一儿童及其父母的样本为 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 精神病理学加速发展。具体目标仍然是：(1)儿童和家庭之间的文化不匹配， 社区和学校环境将与精神病风险相关；(2)家庭和同龄人群体 过程将调解文化错配和精神病理之间的关系；以及(3)文化 儿童及其父母的取向将缓和危险因素与精神病理之间的关系。 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。

ABSTRACT 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.