Depressive symptoms among Mexican Americans: a three-generation study.

The distribution of depressive symptoms and rates of high depressive symptomatology are examined with data from a three-generation study of 1,074 Mexican Americans conducted in San Antonio, Texas, during 1981 and 1982. The purpose of this analysis is to contribute to the available data on the mental health status of Mexican Americans as well as to compare the effects of several relevant sociodemographic factors on prevalence of depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in different generations. In general, previous findings with respect to the associations between sociodemographic variables and depressive symptoms are replicated, although this sample of Mexican Americans experiences comparatively low levels of depressive symptoms, particularly among males. However, the results indicate that interaction effects may exist between generations and other relevant variables typically found to be related to distribution of depressive symptoms in the general population.