Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Depression In Latinas Residing In Emerging Latino Immigrant Communities In The United States, Mona Shattell, Jose Villalba, Natalie Stokes, Desmina Hamilton, Jaimie Foster, Harald Petrini, Kristina Johnson, Norma Hinderliter, Claretta Witherspoon, R. Kathy Hinshaw, Chris Faulkner

Mona Shattell

This study examined the ways in which depression affects immigrant Latina women residing in an emerging Latino immigrant community in the US. Three Spanish-language focus groups were conducted within a community-based participatory research framework. Latina women expressed concerns about their immigration status, separation from family in their native countries, and about finances and inabilities to meet family obligations. They expressed fears for their children in the US. Their sociopolitical, economic, and familial explanations for depression differ from the individual, biological explanations of depression common today. Implications for policy makers, community organizers, health care providers, public health educators, and school counselors …