ABSTRACT
This article discusses therapeutic guidelines for family interventions with troubled Mexican American (MA) teenagers based on reports informing on MA teens and MA families. The typical MA teenager does not exist, and little is known about the complex variations in this population. What is known about some groups of MA teens is alarming and significant enough to provide some direction for serving this population. Existing data regarding teen social class levels, school performance, substance abuse, pregnancy and parenthood, and suicide are presented. Because knowledge about MA families is essential to guide interventions with MA teens in distress, the known traditional MA family is described, and the troubles that confront some MA families today are included. Findings from family cohesion studies, including those not involving MA teens in particular, are summarized to lend support to the guidelines presented. Associations found between family cohesion and various physical and psychiatric problems are noted to support the importance of the concept of cohesion in working with troubled teenagers and their families.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior , Family Therapy , Mexican Americans/psychology , Achievement , Adolescent , Family Characteristics , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Health , Mexico/ethnology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy in Adolescence , Social Class , Substance-Related Disorders , Suicide , Transcultural NursingABSTRACT
This study was conducted to determine the relationships between suicidality and life stress, coping, depression, and family dysfunction in Mexican American teens. The research question was: What are the magnitude of the relationships between suicidality and life stress, coping, depression, and family dysfunction in Mexican American teenagers? The investigators discuss the findings of the study from the perspective of the Mexican American culture, followed by specific conclusions and recommendations drawn from the results of the study. In this article, the term teen is used interchangeably with the terms teenager, youth, and adolescent; suicidality is used interchangeably with suicide risk.
Subject(s)
Mexican Americans/psychology , Psychology, Adolescent , Suicide/ethnology , Adolescent , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Life Change Events , Male , Mexico/ethnology , Models, Psychological , Risk Factors , TexasABSTRACT
In a study conducted in Manila, the Philippines, the relationships among the (a) negative appraisal of and coping with political instability, (b) sociodemographic characteristics, (c) morale, and (d) mood of Filipino women (N = 200) were investigated. Findings were as follows: The political instability in the Philippines had a mild negative impact on the women's lives. The women reported mild depression and moderate morale. Their primary coping style was problem-focused coping. A positive relationship was found among annual individual income, educational achievement, and morale. A negative relationship was found among annual individual income, educational achievement, and depression. Negative relationships were also found between negative appraisals of news of brutal murders and morale and between frequent changes in the President's cabinet and morale. A positive relationship was found between affect-focused coping and depression, whereas problem-focused coping and depression were negatively related. No relationship was found between coping style and morale. The findings are discussed from the perspectives of Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) coping theory and Filipino culture. Guidelines for health care delivery are specified.
