D'Anna-Hernandez Kimberly L, Aleman Brenda, Flores Ana-Mercedes
Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2015 May 1;176:35-42. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.036. Epub 2015 Jan 22.
Mexican-American women exhibit high rates of prenatal maternal depressive symptoms relative to the general population. Though pregnant acculturated Mexican-American women experience cultural stressors such as acculturation, acculturative stress and discrimination that may contribute to elevated depressive symptoms, the contribution of these socio-cultural correlates to depressive symptomology is unknown.
Ninety-eight pregnant women of Mexican descent were recruited from a community hospital clinic during their first trimester. Women completed surveys about acculturation, acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, general perceived stress, and maternal depressive symptoms as well as the potential protective factor of Mexican cultural values.
Women who experienced greater acculturative and perceived stress, but not perceived discrimination or acculturation, reported significantly elevated depressive symptoms during pregnancy. Also, women who experienced greater acculturative stress identified with a mixture of Mexican and American cultural values. However, only the Mexican cultural value of respect was protective against maternal depressive symptoms while adhering to the Anglo value of independence and self-reliance was a risk factor.
A limitation in the study is the cross-sectional and descriptive self-report nature of the work, underscoring the need for additional research. Moreover, physiological measures of stress were not analyzed in the current study.
Results point to acculturative stress, above other cultural stressors, as a potential intervention target in culturally competent obstetric care. These findings have implications for maternal mental health treatment during pregnancy, which likely affects maternal-fetal programming and may favorably affect perinatal outcomes in the vulnerable Mexican-American population.
与普通人群相比，墨西哥裔美国女性孕期母亲抑郁症状的发生率较高。尽管怀孕的墨西哥裔美国女性会经历诸如文化适应、文化适应压力和歧视等文化压力源，这些可能导致抑郁症状加剧，但这些社会文化因素与抑郁症状之间的关系尚不清楚。
从一家社区医院诊所招募了98名孕早期的墨西哥裔孕妇。这些女性完成了关于文化适应、文化适应压力、感知到的歧视、一般感知压力、母亲抑郁症状以及墨西哥文化价值观潜在保护因素的调查。
经历了更大文化适应压力和感知压力，但未经历感知歧视或文化适应的女性，孕期抑郁症状显著加剧。此外，经历了更大文化适应压力的女性认同墨西哥和美国文化价值观的混合。然而，只有墨西哥文化中的尊重价值观对母亲抑郁症状有保护作用，而坚持盎格鲁文化中的独立和自力更生价值观则是一个风险因素。
本研究的一个局限性在于其横断面和描述性自我报告的性质，这凸显了进一步研究的必要性。此外，本研究未分析压力的生理指标。
结果表明，与其他文化压力源相比，文化适应压力是有文化能力的产科护理中一个潜在的干预目标。这些发现对孕期母亲心理健康治疗具有启示意义，这可能会影响母婴编程，并可能对脆弱的墨西哥裔美国人群的围产期结局产生有利影响。
