"Americanization" or acculturation is the process by which immigrants adopt the lifestyle and customs of their host nation, and key indicators include preferred language and place of birth, lead author Marivel Davila said. Davila is a graduate student at the UT School of Public Health and a quantitative research analyst at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Elevated levels of depression were reported by the women born in the United States, as well as those who asked to conduct their interviews in English. Two non-acculturation variables were associated with elevated depression - being single and being pregnant.
"Screening for depression during pregnancy is important for this population group, given Latinas' high rates of fertility and births to single women, particularly among more acculturated U.S.- born Latinas," Davila and her colleagues wrote in the article.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, single motherhood among Latinas in Texas exceeds the national average. In Texas in 2005, 43 percent of all Latina births were to single women. Nationally, the overall average was 37 percent.
"The sample for this study was a low-income population," Davila said. "Our conclusions may or may not be different for women in other socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Hence, more research needs to be conducted among Latinas from differing SES groups, including research focusing on the role of social support and cultural values/beliefs related to childbirth and pregnancy among Latinas."
The women were interviewed in eight family planning clinics and six prenatal clinics of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD) between May and August of 2003. Of the participants, 318 were born in Mexico and 121 in the United States. They were given the choice of conducting the interview in English or Spanish.