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Age at Arrival and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women in Alabama: The Moderating Role of Culture

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Listed:
  • Courtney Andrews

    (Institute for Human Rights, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA)

  • Kathryn S. Oths

    (Department of Anthropology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA)

  • William W. Dressler

    (Department of Anthropology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA)

Abstract

Mexican-born women in the U.S. are at high risk of depression. While acculturation is the primary analytical framework used to study immigrant mental health, this research suffers from (1) a lack of specificity regarding how cultural models of living and being take shape among migrants converging in new destinations in the U.S., and (2) methods to empirically capture the impact of cultural positioning on individual health outcomes. Instead of relying on proxy measures of age at arrival and time in the U.S. to indicate where an individual is located on the acculturation spectrum, this study uses cultural consensus analysis to derive the substance and structure of a cultural model for la buena vida (the good life) among Mexican immigrant women in Birmingham, Alabama, and then assesses the extent to which respondents are aligned with the model in their everyday lives. This measure of ‘cultural consonance’ is explored as a moderating variable between age at arrival in the U.S. and number of depressive symptoms. Results demonstrate that for those who arrived at an older age, those with lower consonance are at the highest risk for depression, while those who are more aligned with la buena vida are at lower risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Courtney Andrews & Kathryn S. Oths & William W. Dressler, 2022. "Age at Arrival and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women in Alabama: The Moderating Role of Culture," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5342-:d:803917
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Finkler, Kaja, 1997. "Gender, domestic violence and sickness in Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1147-1160, October.
    2. Robert Kaestner & Jay A. Pearson & Danya Keene & Arline T. Geronimus, 2009. "Stress, Allostatic Load, and Health of Mexican Immigrants," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1089-1111, December.
    3. Fox, Molly & Thayer, Zaneta & Wadhwa, Pathik D., 2017. "Assessment of acculturation in minority health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 123-132.
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