The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that increase risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Latinos. Although the overall rates of psychiatric disorders in the Latino community are similar to Caucasian Americans, the risk for PTSD among Latinos is higher. This thesis discusses the general components of trauma and stress, as well as the prevalence of PTSD in various Latino subgroups. This thesis also covers a number of cultural-specific values, stressors, and help-seeking attitudes that increase the risk of PTSD among Latinos. Moreover, a culturally-responsive intervention program treating PTSD among Latinas who are victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) is proposed.

Much of the research on illness focuses on how people, particularly white men, cope with chronic/life threatening illnesses often adopting a "sick role" identity. For Latinos this type of identity transformation is complex as there is no place for dependency and passivity in traditional depictions of Latino masculinity. Latino men take pride in their manhood. As a result, they have trouble accepting their illness and the sick role. They do not tend to take their illness seriously, nor are they comfortable admitting to others the seriousness of their illness. My research focuses on how Latino men renegotiate a sense of masculinity that provides more variation in how they enact their roles as men. The four Latino men I interviewed are all battling chronic/life threatening illnesses. The concept of gender work provides a theoretical tool for analyzing the various identity transformations experienced during a long-term chronic/life illness. Although this concept has been typically applied to women and how they reenact a vision of femininity through daily work and interaction, it becomes useful for seeing how Latino men must renegotiate their masculinity which is one of the most fundamental parts of their senses of self. They redefine even the smallest tasks, ones typically defined as female oriented as a sense of masculine pride and accomplishment. Although these men's illnesses have meant major compromises in their traditional vision of masculinity, the men with whom I spoke demonstrate the creative and social processes involved in doing gender.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among cultural/spiritual beliefs, risk behaviors, and disclosure among Hispanic/Latino men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). Minority men who have sex with men are disproportionately affected by HIV, in particular MSM who are Hispanic/Latino or African American. Limited research is available on the link between Hispanic/Latino MSMW, their cultural/spiritual beliefs, risk behavior, and disclosure about risk behaviors to friends and family. The data were obtained from the SJS Project, which used survey methods to gather data on participants from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Among the participants in this project, 354 indicated that Hispanic/Latino was their only race/ethnicity, 264 identified as gay (MSM), 23 identified as bisexual (MSMW) and 67 identified as some other sexuality, and thus were not included in the analysis. Chi-square analysis and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Among the bisexual group, the results showed no relationship between the independent variable, cultural/spiritual beliefs, and the dependent variable, disclosure. Among the gay group, the results showed a moderate relationship on one item of the independent variable, cultural/spiritual belief, and one item of the dependent variable, self-disclosure. Thus there is a relationship between disclosing to friends, family and the neighborhood and feeling supported by family among the gay group. It is expected that these findings will inform public health practitioners who have an interest in creating and implementing HIV prevention programs geared toward the Hispanic/Latino members of the LGBT community and Hispanics/Latinos.