Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Hernandez, Annya
URN	etd-08282003-150234
Title	Mental Health Among Hispanics And Caucasians: Risk And Protective Factors Contributing to Preventive Rates Of Psychiatric Disorders
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Natalie Sachs-Ericsson Committee Chair E. Ashby Plant Committee Member Thomas Joiner Committee Member
Keywords	Examination Of Major Psychiatric Disorders Differe
Date of Defense	2003-06-01
Availability	restricted
Abstract The current study examined the prevalence of major psychiatric disorders for Hispanics and Caucasians and explored those factors that contributed to differences between these groups. The data were obtained as part of a large general population sample. Hispanics had significantly higher one-year prevalence rates of several anxiety disorders (i.e., phobia, general anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder) than Caucasians did. In addition, Hispanic participants were more likely than Caucasian participants to have met the criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis of some sort in the past year. Results further demonstrated that Hispanic participants had significantly lower incomes, fewer years of education, larger household sizes, and greater problems meeting their basic needs than Caucasian participants. However, Hispanic participants had better interpersonal functioning than Caucasian participants. A series of regression analyses indicated that Hispanic participants' problems meeting their basic needs partially accounted for their higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders compared to Caucasian participants. In contrast, their better interpersonal functioning protected Hispanic participants against depression, panic, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse compared to Caucasian participants. That is, after controlling for the protective effect of interpersonal functioning, Hispanic participants had a significantly higher prevalence of those disorders than Caucasian participants. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of quality of life for the prevalence of psychiatric disorders.
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