Influence of Acculturation, Perceptions of Discrimination and Acculturative Stress on Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling in Mexican American College Students
Influence of Acculturation, Perceptions of Discrimination and Acculturative Stress on Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling in Mexican American College Students

Author: Cynthia Marie Ramirez

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Due to the concern of underutilization of counseling services by Mexican Americans, several factors which have been identified in the research (acculturation, stress, and discrimination) were examined in relation to counseling attitudes. Ninety- seven Mexican American university students, who fit the criteria of Mexican American based on self identification participated in the study. All students were administered five measures which included the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, a cultural commitment scale, the Hispanic Stress Inventory, the Perceptions of Discrimination Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. The purpose of the study was to explore the roles of acculturation, discrimination, and acculturative stress in relation to attitudes toward counseling for Mexican American college students and to further contribute to our understanding and knowledge of racism and its impact on ethnic minorities in counseling. Subjects were divided into high and low groups on measures of acculturation, acculturative stress, and perceptions of discrimination which was based on scores above and below the medians of instruments assessing these variables. Those who indicated experiencing higher levels of acculturative stress and perceptions of discrimination had overall more favorable attitudes toward seeking counseling than did those experiencing lower levels of acculturative stress and perceptions of discrimination. Women consistently had more favorable attitudes toward counseling than men based on the Need and Confidence subscales of the ATSPPH. The results of the Multiple Regression Analysis showed that discriminatory behaviors and attributes were significant predictors of overall Attitudes toward seeking psychological help. No significant differences were found between levels of acculturation and attitudes toward seeking counseling or between levels of cultural commitment and attitudes toward seeking counseling.

The Relationship Between Level of Acculturation and Attitudes Toward Eating in Mexican American Females
The Relationship Between Level of Acculturation and Attitudes Toward Eating in Mexican American Females

Author: Linda Trew Ahlfield-Bruhn

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13:

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This study will examine the relationship between acculturation and the attitudes toward eating disorders in Mexican American girls and young women in the state of New Mexico. this longitudinal repeated measures (2) study will span a 6-year period starting at age 12 (+/-1 year) and ending when the young women reach age 18. The test battery for this study will consist of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale (BAS) for Hispanics. Subjects will participate in testing at 2-year intervals. The female head-of-household, either the mother or guardian, will also accompany the young girls in the every-other-year testing. It is hypothesized that at each year of testing the gap between mother's and daughter's scores on the BAS will get wider, indicating the daughter's increased acculturation to Western cultural ideals.