Depressive Symptoms among Puerto Ricans: Island Poor Compared with Residents of the New York City Area

This paper compares the distribution and sociodemographic patterns of depressive symptoms among two groups of Puerto Ricans. The data employed for the analysis are from a probability sample of two communities of adults, Puerto Ricans living in poor residential areas on the Island (n = 1,658) and those living in the New York City area (n = 1,267). The first group was interviewed during 1989, and the second during 1984. Symptoms of depression were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results show that Puerto Ricans residing in the New York City area and the Island poor have similar levels of high depressive symptomatology, 28.1 % and 28.6%, respectively. Results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that female sex, low educational level, low household income, and unemployment are predictors of high depressive symptoms for both samples. These results are similar to findings for other ethnic groups. For Puerto Ricans living in New York, the effect of interviewing in Spanish on high depressive symptoms diminishes after sex, education, and income variables are controlled. Am J Epidemiol 1991;134:502-10. depressive symptoms; Puerto Ricans; socioeconomic factors The need for a better understanding of the mental health characteristics of ethnic mi-norities has gained increased recognition during recent years (1-3). Although initial research efforts were based on treatment populations, there has been an increase of epidemiologic field studies of Hispanic groups. The information obtained from these studies is essential to provide infor-mation regarding the distribution of mental health problems in the Hispanic population. The purpose of this paper is to provide epi-demiologic data about depressive symptom-atology experienced by two groups of Puerto Ricans, one living in the New York City area and the other on the Island of Puert