Given that Latinos represent one of the fastest growing minority groups in the contemporary US, studies aimed at elucidating conceptualizations and experiences of distress are undeniably relevant for a culturally competent professional psychology best suited to an increasingly diverse America. To reduce the burden of mental illness for all Americans, it is essential that the culture-specific modes of conceptualizing and experiencing anxiety are investigated and understood. Ataque de nervios is identified as a major affective illness comorbid with depression and anxiety in various Latina/o communities, with high prevalence rates found among women in their mid-twenties to early sixties (Guarnaccia, DeLaCancela, &Carrillo, 1989). Through the use of quantitative and qualitative methods this project explores the interplay between acculturation, ataque de nervios, and psychopathology in a Mexican/Mexican-American adult female community sample. This interdisciplinary project has four aims: 1) to examine the extent to which level of acculturation predicts ataque de nervios as an explanation of emotional distress;2) to investigate the degreeto which expression of prototypical ataque de nervios symptoms is dependent on level of acculturation;3) to explore the extent to which acculturation and individual acculturative domains predict endorsement of ataque de nervios symptoms and/or psychopathology;and 4) to learn about conceptions of nervios and ataque de nervios in relation to acculturation. [Participants will be recruited from a local community program. All members will be pre-screened for psychological distress using the Spanish versionjof .the BSI. Only. Mexican/Mexican-rAmerican participants with moderate to high levels of psychological distress will be eligible for further participation. First, all participants (N = 75) will be administered the SCID (a clinician-administered diagnostic interview), and two acculturation measures (AMAS-ZABB and SMAS). Second, a qualitative interview (EMIC) that explores categories of nervios will be administered. Regression analyses and thematic content analysis will be used accordingly to analyze the data. About 20% of US Americans experience mental illness in a given year. The significant rise of Latinos living in the US (both US citizens and foreign-born) demands that experiences of mental illness are explored in populations at risk for physical and psychological distress due to significant stressors related to discrimination, poverty, migration etc. To promote healthy living for all US Americans, more information is needed about how Latinas experience distress and its relation to depression (a leading cause of disability and contributing factor in suicide).
| Alcantara, Carmela; Abelson, James L; Gone, Joseph P (2012) Beyond anxious predisposition: do padecer de nervios and ataque de nervios add incremental validity to predictions of current distress among Mexican mothers? Depress Anxiety 29:23-31 |
