There have been suggestions in the literature of a link between
acceptance of traditional Latin American family values and the development
of psychopathology. To test this hypothesis, the author surveyed 117
lower-class Puerto Rican psychiatric patients, using a scale to measure
Hispanic American family-related values. The scores of these patients were
compared with those of lower- and middle-class Puerto Rican nonpatients.
The data provided some evidence that in poorer immigrants psychiatric
morbidity is accompanied by evidence of decreased adherence to Latin
American family beliefs.
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