This research will assess the effectiveness of mutual support groups in aiding low income Mexican American widows to resolve their bereavement and adjust to widowhood during the fifteen-month period following the death of their husbands. It will compare widows who participate in a support group program designed for women of this ethnic group with their peers who rely on naturally occurring support systems. It will measure the efficiency of the treatment, defined as the rapidity with which treatment effects are achieved, and the durability of these results. Additionally it will assess if selected demographic characteristics of Mexican American women can predict how well they will benefit from a support group. Finally, it will provide an in-depth description of culturally specific problems that are identified and those that are resolved in a mutual support group. Conducted under the auspices of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, a regional research center that facilitates interdisciplinary, collaborative research, the project involves a team of scholars from the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, nursing, and psychiatric social work. It will be based on a sample of seventy-five women in the experimental group and seventy-five in the control group. The women will be recruited in three overlapping phases, will enter the study before the sixth month of widowhood, and participate in the treatment program for nine months. The research will proceed by addressing the following specific questions: 1. How effective is a mutual support group in assisting low income Mexican American widows to resolve problems of bereavement and adaptation to life as widows following the death of their husbands? Do subjects who experience a support group exhibit lower levels of depression, somaticism, and anxiety, higher levels of life satisfaction, improved sense of personal mastery, and increased satisfaction with size of social networks and with social relationships? 2. How efficient is the support treatment? 3. What is the durability of the therapeutic change? 4. Do demographic characteristics predict which widows benefit most from a support group? 5. What is the thematic content of mutual support group meetings among recently breaved low income Mexican American widows? The results of the research will be disseminated through scholarly articles, conference papers, and reports to community health agencies. They will assist development of health and social service programs responsive to the needs of this population.
| Kay, M; Guernsey de Zapien, J; Wilson, C A et al. (1993) Evaluating treatment efficacy by triangulation. Soc Sci Med 36:1545-54 |
| Kay, M; Portillo, C (1989) Nervios and dysphoria in Mexican American widows. Health Care Women Int 10:273-93 |
