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Studies using measures of depression as indicators of well-being and adjustment or as indicators of the impact of sociocultural and other environmental processes on mental health are popular (National Institute [...], This study investigated the relations among depression, acculturation, and socioeconomic status (SES) in a young-adult Latino sample. Data were obtained from 1,271 Latino first-year college students; 89% self-labeled as either Mexican American or Hispanic, and 11% as Mexican National. Symptoms of depression were compared for various acculturation levels, and bicultural groups with controls for SES and gender. The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II (ARSMA-II) was used to assess acculturation characteristics. Clinical depression and symptoms of depression were measured using the DSD26 Symptom Scale for assessment of depressive symptoms and major depression. Variance in depression scores was found to be influenced more by gender and SES than by acculturation or ethnic identity status. Assimilated Mexican Americans reported significantly fewer symptoms of depression than their more traditional counterparts. Ethnicity and acculturation per se were not found to lessen or increase risk for depression but SES associated with ethnicity was found to directly affect depression scores.

Data from 304 family service center clients were analyzed to assess how the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) operated when used with different ethnic populations. Results indicated the CSQ-8 operated about the same, whether administered to Anglos or to persons of Hispanic origin, or in English or Spanish. (NQA)

Differences between Anglos and Mexican Americans were examined for three measures of social support--organizational membership, contact with friends and relatives, and sources of socioemotional and instrumental aid. Most initial ethnic differences disappeared when the effects of age, gender, education, income, and marital status were controlled. (JHZ)

Mexican American women reported more depressive symptoms than men (after controlling for effects of age, education, income) in two surveys conducted in Alameda County, California (1975, 1978). Among the married, the employed reported fewer symptoms than the nonemployed; there was no difference in depression scores of employed men and women. (Author/LC)