The Hispanic Social Network Prevention Intervention Study is designed to determine the effectiveness of two early preventive interventions for enhancing personal competence and self-efficacy and in the prevention/abatement of depressive symptomatology within a cohort of low income Mexican American women between thirty-five and forty-nine years of age. An experimental prospective research design will be used to select a cohort of subjects which are not, as yet, either demoralized nor clinically depressed. The design stages encompass: (1) an initial location/screening of a probability sample; (2) an enlistment; (3) a Time 1 baseline assessment; (4) a study group randomization; (5) an intervention phase; and (6) a Time 2 outcome assessment. THe three year proposed study will include two experimental groups receiving distinct intervention modalities, and one control group. The research variables will include stressors (health impairments, culture conflict, stressful life events, and persistent life strain), adaptive resources (support network knowledge/utilization and cognitive and behavioral responses to stressors) and outcome variables (personal competence, self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms), with corresponding measures. The adaptive resource variables will be directly addressed by the interventions. The rationale for the research is grounded in the persistent underutilization of mental health services by Mexican Americans and the high levels of reported depressive symptomatology in the study cohort. These issues, combined with the need for exploring natural network technology in prevention research, underscore the use of Hispanic natural support system helpers, known as servidoras, to implement the two early preventive intervention formats.
