Thesis advisor: Christina Matz / Thesis advisor: Ce Shen / The aging of the population has imposed sustainability issues to Social Security, which has led to a glowing debate about what the full retirement age (FRA) should be and whether working longer is a fair and realistic expectation for everyone – or just for those who have a certain level of control over their retirement decision. It was estimated that by 2013, there were over 50% household at risk of financial insecurity in retirement. Thus, having to retire earlier might mean that individuals are in a particular precarious situation financially. Evidence suggests that in order to make ends meet, workers intend to stay on the job longer. About 27% of workers state they plan to work at retirement and 24% state they plan to continue to work until they are not able to do so. However, 50% of retiree retired earlier than planned, and only 24% of them did so because they realized they could afford retirement, while the remaining 76% retired involuntarily due to health or lay-offs. Evidence suggest that there are startling ethno-racial differences regarding retirement preparedness and planning. Hispanics tend to do little to none retirement planning, and tend to face retirement insecurity, which is expressed as high dependency in Social Security and poverty rates three times higher compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Some recent qualitative research has pointed out that for Hispanics there might be cultural elements at play. Few studies have explored ethno-racial disparities regarding retirement planning and decisions and the results are inconsistent. Ethno-racial and cultural variables are some of the most understudied variables in the retirement planning literature. The present dissertation seeks to contribute to fill some of these gaps by exploring ethno-racial differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the U.S. regarding, retirement planning, retirement decisions and retirement outcomes. Results indicate that there are significant differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, especially foreign-born Hispanics. This as the result of the complex relationship of Hispanics’ culture and their migration experience that has been marked by diminished labor market conditions, which along with Hispanics’ lack of education and English proficiency has limited their working opportunities / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

The problem of this study concerns the values, beliefs, and characteristics of Hispanic students attending a large urban southwestern university. The study is qualitative and utilizes the constant comparative research method. Data is gathered from interviews with 21 Hispanic students, campus surveys, university records, a census report, and observation of campus activities. The literature review spans organizational culture, campus culture and subcultures, as well as studies regarding Hispanic students. The findings introduce the students and report their perspectives in both their own words and in summarized themes for each research question. In summary, Hispanic students and their college experiences are diverse. They major in a wide range of disciplines, come from varying socio-economic households, have parents with varying levels of education, are surprised by various aspects of college, and they do not all speak Spanish.

Latino immigrants who lack assimilation into U.S. society often experience discrimination and immigrant backlash. The purpose of this exploration was to better understand the historical lack of assimilation of Latino immigrants, so they may avoid discrimination and have more access to goods and services. Self-determinism helped explain why the Latino immigrant group has a problem assimilating due to exclusionary practices, while segmented assimilation offered explanations on why assimilation is difficult. In this study, assimilation was measured according to English mastery by Spanish speakers. The research question was focused on what extent the level of generational standing, education, and income relate to assimilation for Latinos in the United States. A correlational design with multiple regression analysis was used in this study to analyze the Latino National Survey of 2006 secondary data (N =8634). Results indicated that every variable was significant except grandparents born outside the United States. The implications for positive social change include providing research-based information that might assist policymakers to develop programs and laws that better assist the Hispanic ethnic group to assimilate into United States.

Health literacy has been recognized as a vital issue in the self-care management of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of functional, communicative, and critical health literacy dimensions on positive and negative attitudes toward health decision making. The transtheoretical model of health behavior change (TTM) provided the theoretical framework to explain this association. A culturally-adapted survey was used in this cross-sectional study to measure health literacy dimensions, positive and negatives attitudes toward health decision making, and other factors in 100 Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS. Demographic factors and clinical and immunological variables were obtained from the HIV/AIDS Registry database. Bivariate analyses were conducted to determine associations and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the extent to which health literacy and other factors, while controlling for demographic characteristics, disease duration, and stage of readiness, predicted positive and negative attitudes toward health decision making. Results revealed that Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS with higher health literacy scores are more likely to have positive attitudes toward health decision making. HIV/AIDS disease-specific knowledge and self-report HIV medication adherence showed statistical significance for functional and critical health literacy. Social change implications included the identification of limited health literacy as a potential barrier for an active participation in health decision making. The development of interventions directed to increase health literacy skills to improve HIV medication adherence and disease management are needed.

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A higher prevalence and incidence of dementia is found in Hispanic/Latino older adults. Therefore, valid instruments are necessary to assess cognitive functioning in this population group. Our aim was to review existing articles that have examined and reported on the validity of cognitive assessment tools in Hispanic/Latino population groups in the United States.

Diploma thesis is focused on the support of Latinos voters for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Hispanics in general are more supporters of the Democratic Party, so the increased support for Donald Trump proclaimed in media after the election has been surprising for many experts and public especially regarding Trump's rhetoric and his attacks on some Hispanic prominent figures. In the thesis, I discuss whether Donald Trump gained more Latinos support in the election. I argue that Donald Trump gained more Latino support in the election. The thesis is confirmed in the theoretical and practical part based on an analysis of composition of the Hispanic electorate, pre-election, and post-election surveys and through the analysis of counties with at least 70% concentration of Hispanic population. The thesis also deals with Donald Trump's election campaign and the motivation of Latinos to vote for the Republican candidate. Donald Trump tried to reach out Hispanic voters more than in 2016 through greater funding of political spots, greater representation of Latinos in the election team, debates targeting Latinos voters and other initiatives. These moves were symbolic rather than practical in nature. The voting of Latinos for Donald Trump was probably influenced by external factors - the...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Hispanics are more likely to die from breast cancer compared to non - Hispanic whites matched on stage and age at diagnosis. Higher mortality rates among Hispanics are attributed to cancer - related disparities across the cancer continuum including later - stage detection. While research has shown that socioeconomic factors play a significant role in the development and maintenance of cancer - related disparities, differences persist when these factors are controlled. Thus far, research on cultural factors and cognitions surrounding cancer is limited. The current study investigated illness representations of cancer and their determinants among Hispanic men and women (N = 120) using a cross - sectional survey approach. The study sample was comprised of predominantly first generation, employed Hispanic women in their early - thirties from Mexico. Most had not resided in the U.S. for more than 5 - 9 years. Half of the sample reported an annual income of $20,001 - $30,000 and completing at least a middle school education. While the majority indicated that they did not have health insurance, most indicated that they did have a regular source of health care. Additionally, while most had not been diagnosed with cancer, nearly half of the sample knew of someone diagnosed with cancer. Descriptive data regarding illness identity, illness coherence, timeline, causes, consequences, and controllability are provided. Results suggest that demographic factors (i.e. acculturation, education, and income), cultural constructs (i.e. fatalism and familism), intrapersonal factors (state and trait anxiety), and previous experience with cancer were associated with illness representations of breast cancer. The study adds to theliterature by systematically investigate illness representations of breast cancer and their determinants among a diverse sample of Hispanic men and women. This is a significant first step that can be used to guide and develop effective and culturally appropriate interventions that ultimately reduce disparities across the cancer continuum.

Student loan debt continues to be an issue in the U.S., with potential long-term effects on loan repayment and potential wealth accumulation. In particular, minorities face barriers in the educational system and accruing wealth. Hispanics occupy a middling position in the U.S. racial hierarchy. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 geocode data, in this study I examined how Hispanic-White differences in student debt change over time and how student debt influences wealth. In addition, I accounted for immigration status via parents' nativity status to investigate debt burdens and subsequent wealth for these respondents. I used hierarchical linear growth models to examine debt growth over time and linear decomposition to examine Hispanic-White differences in wealth accumulation and the impact of student debt on these differences. While findings were largely statistically insignificant, I found that Hispanics tended to start with less debt than their White counterparts and that student debt initially grew for both groups. However, White respondents pay off their debt more quickly than Hispanics. In addition, I found that the wealth gap between White and Hispanic respondents grew significantly between the ages of 20 and 35. While Hispanics tended to start with less debt, my findings suggest that student debt still plays a role in Hispanics' financial well-being, including Hispanic wealth development and the perpetuation of the Hispanic-White wealth gap.

The Personality Inventory DSM-5 (PID-5) was created to measure personality pathology and help in the development of a dimensional conceptualization of personality disorders (Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012). It measures five maladaptive personality traits: Negative Affect, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition and Psychoticism. The PID-5 has also garnered significant support for its hierarchical structure, five-factor structure across samples and translations, and its ability to predict variance in internalizing and externalizing disorders (Krueger & Markon, 2014). The current study builds on this literature by translating the PID-5 into Spanish spoken in Latin America and testing the replicability of the five-factor structure, reliability, and validity of the PID-5-Sp facets in a Hispanic sample. Using Mechanical Turk, 305 participants completed the PID-5-Spanish, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD7), Aggression Questionnaire-Revised (AQ-R) and the Big Five Inventory (BFI). EFA suggested a three-factor structure that resulted in two small factors that were conceptually similar to Antagonism and Detachment and one large global general distress factor. CFA results indicated that a five-factor solution had a poor fit for the current sample. Reliability was acceptable for most facets (α = .60-.95, M= .85). In general, PID-5-Sp domains showed moderate to strong correlations with theoretically congruent normative traits, with exception of Psychoticism, which was not significantly correlated with Openness to Experience (r = -.08, p = > .05). As expected, Detachment and Negative Affect predicted GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. Aggression scores were predicted by Negative Affect, Antagonism and Disinhibition. Overall, the PID-5-Sp partially replicated previous validity and reliability findings. However, future research is needed to further test the five-factor structure and its replicability in non-Western samples.