Search

Introduction: Insufficient physical activity (PA) and obesity-related health conditions have reached epidemic proportions worldwide. Mexican American women (MAW) report low leisure time physical activity. Few studies examine activities beyond leisure time. Qualitative research suggests that partner support influence provides a cultural approach relevant to PA among MAW., Method: This cross-sectional study used an ecological model to investigate community (the physical environment), interpersonal (partner support, attitudinal familism), and intrapersonal (age, health conditions, acculturation, employment, and body mass index) factors associated with PA among 112 MAW. Community-based participatory research recommendations guided the preparatory phase of the study and the face-to-face interviews. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were computed. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to examine associations between study variables., Results: Moderate to high PA levels were found based on combined activities performed during leisure time, transportation, household tasks, and occupational duties. Women with greater partner support reported higher PA levels. Although acculturation levels were low among women, those with higher acculturation were found to be more physically active., Conclusions: Future studies should examine strategies to increase partner support and address acculturation within intervention programs to enhance overall PA among MAW.

Aims: The aims were to identify the most useful parameters of acculturation in relation to self-reported sleep disturbance and describe risk factors for sleep disturbance in women of Mexican descent., Background: Little is known about acculturation as a factor for poor sleep in the context of other personal factors such as income or sense of resilience or mastery for Latinas in the United States., Design: This study was a secondary analysis of cross sectional survey data., Methods: Personal factors were incorporated into a modification of the conceptual framework of impaired sleep to guide our secondary analysis of self-reported sleep disturbance. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 312 women of Mexican descent of childbearing age (21-40 years) located in an urban California community were collected and previously analysed in relation to depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder. The general sleep disturbance scale (in English and Spanish) was used to assess sleep disturbance. Data was collected in 1998 from September through December., Results: Early socialization to the United States during childhood was the most useful acculturation parameter for understanding self-reported sleep disturbance in this sample. In a multivariate regression analysis, three factors (higher acculturation, lower income and higher depressive symptoms) were statistically significant in accounting for 40% of the variance in sleep disturbance., Conclusion: When low income Latinas of Mexican descent report sleep problems, clinicians should probe for environmental sleep factors associated with low income, such as noise, over-crowding and exposure to trauma and violence, and refer the woman to psychotherapy and counselling rather than merely prescribing a sleep medication., (© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Whereas few studies with Latina samples include strength factors (resilience, mastery, life satisfaction, and perceived energy level) as variables, even fewer include strength factors together with acculturation in the same study. As part of a larger study, the purpose of this analysis is to describe and examine the relationships between strength factors, risk factors such as acculturation and substance use, resource factors including financial adequacy and education, and the health and illness factor of perceived health status among a convenience sample of 315 low-income women of Mexican descent, ages 21 to 40. Cross-sectional survey data were collected and analyzed. Results show intragroup differences related to the well-being of women of Mexican descent living with low incomes in urban settings.

Survey methods were used to collect cross-sectional data on PTSD symptoms in the context of resources, risks, and strengths of a convenience sample of 315 low income women of Mexican descent. Women were compared by generation in the US, including Mexico-born women who immigrated as adults (> or =age 18), as teens (age 12-17), or as children (< or =age 12), and US-born women whose parents and/or grandparents were Mexico-born. Results showed that US-born women reported significantly more types of trauma than women who immigrated as adults or teens, and more PTSD symptoms than women who immigrated as adults. Also, one to three times as many women who were exposed to the United States before age 18 reported sexual trauma exposure compared with women who immigrated as adults. In a three-step multiple regression analysis, lack of intrinsic strength factors (13%) accounted for more variance in PTSD symptoms than resources (6%) or risks (10%; p < 0.001).

From a larger convenience sample of 315 women of Mexican descent, the focus of this secondary analysis of cross sectional data was a subset of 68 women who reported that they sought help for feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or depression within the last year Women who sought help from professional sources had significantly higher depressive (CES-D) and PTSD (IES-R) symptoms than women who sought help from "other or multiple" sources that included friends. Women who sought help exclusively from family or from professionals scored over the CES-D and IES-R cutpoints. Results are useful for designing future research on help-seeking preferences of Latina women.

The purpose of this study is to test the reliability and validity of a Spanish translation of the Resilience Scale (RS), which was originally created in English by Wagnild and Young (1993). A team of bilingual, bicultural translators participated in the translation process to enhance the linguistic accuracy and cultural appropriateness of the Spanish translation. As part of the convenience sample of 315 women of Mexican descent who participated in the larger study, data from 147 women who preferred to read and write in Spanish were used in this analysis. The English version of the RS consists of a 17-item "Personal Competence" subscale and an 8-item "Acceptance of Self and Life" subscale for a total of 25 items. However, two items had low item-total loadings and were removed to form a modified 23-item RS. The exploratory principal components factor analysis, varimax rotation, and subsequent goodness of fit indices were ambivalent on whether a one or two-factor solution was appropriate, but the chi-square difference test clearly demonstrated that the two-factor solution of the Spanish version was more useful in explaining variance than a one-factor solution. Internal consistency reliability was estimated with Cronbach's alpha (alpha = 0.93) which was acceptable for the 23-item RS as well as its subscales. Construct validity was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation between resilience and life satisfaction (r = 0.36; p < 0.001), and a significant negative correlation between resilience and depressive symptoms (r = -0.29; p < 0.01). This analysis ultimately supports the appropriateness of the modified 23-item Spanish translation of the RS and its subscales in a sample of urban, low-income women of Mexican descent in the U.S.

Background: The majority of research related to depression among women of Mexican descent has focused on risk factors and resources without considering intrinsic strength factors that may have a protective function. An additional focus on mastery, resilience, and life satisfaction will expand the context for understanding the mental health of women of Mexican descent., Objectives: This study describes the level of depressive symptoms experienced by low-income women of Mexican descent living in an urban community in northern California and compares the level of symptoms by exposure to the United States (US) during childhood. Rather than focus only on negative demographic characteristics (such as lower socioeconomic status) associated with high levels of depressive symptoms, this study also focused on strengths and resources that may minimize or modify depressive symptoms., Methods: Questionnaires were completed by a cross-sectional convenience sample of 315 women of Mexican descent, aged 21-40 years. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression., Results: Women who spent all of their childhood years in Mexico before coming to the US had a lower level of depressive symptoms (p <.05) and more satisfaction with life than women who were exposed to the US in childhood (p =.001). While income, adequacy of financial resources, partner status, alcohol use, and childhood exposure to the US accounted for 13% of the variance in depressive symptoms, intrinsic strength factors such as mastery, life satisfaction, and resilience accounted for an additional 31% of the variance (p <.001)., Discussion: Although intrinsic strength factors have rarely been included in research related to depression in women of Mexican descent, they were more directly related to lack of depressive symptoms than traditional demographic risk factors.

Research has shown that health outcomes for urban women of Mexican descent are related to acculturation. The purpose of this research was to compare perinatal outcomes of 773 women of Mexican descent who gave birth in three rural northern California hospitals, in relation to acculturation measured three different ways: by place of birth, by language spoken, and by the two factors combined as an Acculturation Index (AI). The prenatal and birth records of 773 Mexico-born or U.S.-born women of Mexican descent were reviewed. Results showed that language spoken was a less useful indicator of acculturation associated with perinatal complications than place of birth or the AI. The categorization of acculturation with the AI enhanced understanding of more specific groups of rural women and their particular health outcomes.