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Marital status and depression among Mexican Americans

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Summary

Using data from a three-generations study of Mexican Americans in San Antonio, the authors found that, in general, women and unmarried (widowed or divorced-separated) persons had significantly higher scores on the CES-D depression scale than men and married persons even after a number of controls were introduced. However, marital status did not matter in the older generation and divorce-separation lost significance in the third generation after the controls. The authors discuss the findings in light of the place of the elderly in the Mexican American family and in light of rising divorce rates in younger generations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 77550, Galveston, Tx, USA

    Kyriakos S. Markides

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 77550, Galveston, Tx, USA

    Janice Farrell

Authors
  1. Kyriakos S. Markides
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  2. Janice Farrell
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Additional information

Funded by grant AG04170 from the National Institute on Aging and by a grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health

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Markides, K.S., Farrell, J. Marital status and depression among Mexican Americans. Soc Psychiatry 20, 86–91 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00594985

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