Mental health among Hispanics and Caucasians: risk and protective factors contributing to prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders

Parenting strategies and socio-cultural influences in childhood anxiety: Mexican, Latin American descent, and European American families

“…In particular, a strong family orientation has been linked to less mental health problems in Latinos (Hernandez, Plant, Sachs-Ericsson, & Joiner, 2005). Theoretically, having a close knit group with which to identify may facilitate children's sense of identity and increase their ability to cope with psychosocial stressors.…”

Prevalence of Mental Health Issues in the Borderlands: A Comparative Perspective

“…Low socioeconomic status (SES), especially the inability to meet basic needs, is a high risk factor for psychiatric problems (Hernandez, Plant, Sachs-Ericsson, & Joiner, 2004). Notwithstanding the increased risk that accompanies low socioeconomic levels, rates of psychiatric morbidity are significantly lower among Hispanic immigrants Vega & Lopez, 2001) who tend to belong to lower SES.…”

“…These "protective factors" among Hispanics (Alderete, Vega, Kolody, & Aguilar-Gaxiola, 2000), particularly sociocultural behaviors such as social networking and strong family relationships, mitigate against the development of many mental health problems. Social and emotional support systems diminish the need for services (Finch and Vega, 2003;Hernandez et al, 2004;.…”

“…Hernandez et al (2004) examined 1-year prevalence rates and found that Hispanics were more likely than Whites to have met criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis within the past year, had higher 1-year prevalence rates for anxiety disorders, had greater problems meeting their basic needs, and had better interpersonal relations. However, Breslau et al (2005) found that Hispanics had a lower lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder than non-Hispanic Whites based on data from the NCS among English-speaking households.…”

Prevalence of Mental Health Issues in the Borderlands: A Comparative Perspective

“…Low socioeconomic status (SES), especially the inability to meet basic needs, is a high risk factor for psychiatric problems (Hernandez, Plant, Sachs-Ericsson, & Joiner, 2004). Notwithstanding the increased risk that accompanies low socioeconomic levels, rates of psychiatric morbidity are significantly lower among Hispanic immigrants (Vega, Kolody, et al, 1998 ; Vega & Lopez, 2001) who tend to belong to lower SES.…”