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The relationship between acculturation, generational status/nativity and drinking patterns is examined using data from a 1988 community survey of 1286 adult regular drinkers (at least two drinks/month) in San Antonio, Texas. This sample includes 412 Anglo, 239 Black, and 635 Mexican American respondents, with Mexican Americans further classified into high, medium, and low acculturation groups using a language-use-based acculturation measure. This data set allows comparisons between racial/ethnic majority and minority groups with further comparisons between Black and Mexican American subgroups. These racial/ethnic and acculturation level comparisons highlight the effects of minority status and cultural differences between groups with regard to drinking patterns. Overall, the analyses indicate little evidence to support an 'acculturation stress' model of alcohol use, wherein the stresses of acculturation produce higher levels of alcohol consumption among moderately or higher acculturation groups. Generally, in our data, quantity and frequency consumption was somewhat higher among the least acculturated males and moderately acculturated females. Further analyses by generational status indicate heavier consumption patterns among second-generation individuals, especially among the less acculturated, though those differences were eliminated by controls. The findings highlight inadequacies of using generational status/nativity measures alone to assess acculturation level. Further, joint effects of acculturation level and generational status suggest the viability of a cultural marginality model of acculturation, though many of the effects of acculturation and generational status are explained by demographic and psychosocial factors.

A standardized interview including parts of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to determine the prevalence of depressive and generalized anxiety disorders among female family practice patients in San Antonio, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico. Rates of depression and anxiety were not significantly different in Texas and Mexico. There were differences in age-specific rates of anxiety with the disorder being prominent among middle-aged women in Mexico. In both countries, women with mental disorders had higher rates of hospitalization, use of psychotropic medication(s), and physical complaints than women without such disorders.

A standardized interview including parts of the NIMH-Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to determine the prevalence of depression (major depression or dysthymia) and generalized anxiety in a random sample of predominantly low-income Mexican American patients attending an inner-city family health center. Overall rates of current DSM-III-diagnosable depression and anxiety were similar to rates reported for other primary care patient populations in the United States. There were racial/ethnic and sex differences in the rates of these disorders, with Anglo females having disproportionately high rates. Among women, the rate of mental disorders was higher for those with many somatic symptoms, three or more children, low scores on a scale of family integration, and numerous missed appointments in the last year.