The Mexican American population is the largest and fastest growing Latino
subgroup in the United States. Research has indicated Mexican Americans experience as
many, if not more, mental health problems as other ethnic groups, including anxiety,
depression, agoraphobia, simple phobia, drug and alcohol abuse, and increased rates of
suicide. Mexican Americans, however, are among some of the most underserved by the
mental health community. Little research, however, has focused on parents’ beliefs about
their adolescents’ mental health, their utilization of mainstream mental health services, or
their use of alternative resources for addressing their adolescent’s problems. This is
particularly troubling given Mexican American youth have disproportionately high rates
of substance abuse, delinquency, depression and suicide. Mexican American youth’s
utilization patterns mirror those of adults, with lower rates of utilization than their peers
of other ethnicities, and higher rates of early termination of treatment.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a number of topics related to
Mexican American mothers’ perspectives on adolescent mental health, including factors that contribute to problems, steps parents would be willing to take to help their
adolescent, their beliefs about the use of mental health professionals, and their use of
alternatives such as curanderos, priests, or family reliance to address their adolescent
mental health problems. Participants were 27 mothers of adolescents who identify
themselves as being of Mexican descent (Mexican; Mexican American). Mothers who
agreed to participate were interviewed in person using a semi-structured interview
format. The results revealed considerable consistency in the participants’ views
regardless of family history, adolescent problems faced, language spoken, and their
generation in the U.S. The results of this study indicated that the Mexican American
mothers who participated were attuned to adolescent functioning, with a keen sense for
determining whether their adolescent is experiencing problems. The participants were
able to navigate a complex system that involved considering other resources in their
surroundings to address their adolescent’s problems. Overall, participants indicated
positive regard toward the use of family, church, schools, and professionals in helping
their adolescent, while the use of traditional folk healers, such as curanderos, was only
minimally indicated. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/7674 |
| Date | 03 June 2010 |
| Creators | Pate, Lucila Ramírez |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works. |
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