ERIC Number: EJ979041
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0047-2891
EISSN: N/A
Cultural Stressors and the Hopelessness Model of Depressive Symptoms in Latino Adolescents
Stein, Gabriela L.; Gonzalez, Laura M.; Huq, Nadia
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, v41 n10 p1339-1349 Oct 2012
Depressive symptoms in Latino youth have been related to both culturally-universal and culturally-based stressors. However, few studies have examined the unique contributions of culturally-based stressors above and beyond other types of stressors. Moreover, no past studies with Latinos have examined the role of culturally-based stressors within a hopelessness model of depressive symptoms, a cognitive model with the strongest empirical support in adolescence. The current study examined these issues in a sample of 171 Latino adolescents (7th-10th grades; mean age = 14; 46% male). The Latino adolescents were primarily Mexican-American (78%) and born in the United States (60%). Students completed measures during a school period on their experiences of parent-child conflict, economic stress, discrimination from peers, and acculturative stress as well as depressive symptoms and attributional style. The results indicated that culturally-based stressors (e.g., acculturative stress and discrimination) predicted greater depressive symptoms even when controlling for culturally-universal stressors (e.g., parent-child conflict, economic stress). Moreover, a negative attributional style moderated the relationship between culturally-universal stressors and depressive symptoms, but this was not the case for culturally-based stressors. Culturally-based stressors play an important role in depressive symptoms among Latino youth. These stressors predicted greater symptomatology even when controlling for other types of stressors and a negative attributional style. These findings suggest that there may be other cognitive risk factors associated with culturally-based stressors.
Descriptors: Hispanic Americans, Depression (Psychology), Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Stress Variables, Cultural Influences, Adolescents, Mexican Americans, Measures (Individuals), Parent Child Relationship, Conflict, Economic Factors, Peer Acceptance, Racial Bias, Acculturation, Prediction, Risk, Attribution Theory
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 9; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A