The prevalence of depressive symptoms among Mexican-Americans and Anglos

The study reports epidemlologlc field survey data on the distribution of de-pressive symptoms among Anglos (n = 637) and two Mexican-American sub-samples (n = 551) living In Santa Clara County, California. One of the Mexican-American subsamples was interviewed In English (n = 330) and the other In Spanish (n = 221). Analysis of variance Indicated that those with low educa-tional achievement, females, those in disrupted marital statuses, and those under 30 years of age had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms than their counterparts. The prevalence of depressive symptoms for the Anglo and Mexican-American English-speaking samples was very similar and much lower than that reported by the Spanish-speaking Mexican-American sub-sample. Differences In educational levels appear to be accounting for many of the variations In depressive symptoms between the Anglo and English-speaking subsamples and the Spanish-speaking one. The authors suggest that the lack of language skills along with low educational achievement may be Indicating a relative lack of acculturation and societal integration which In tur