Assimilation and fertility: a comparison of Mexican American and Japanese women

This study has 2 central goals: 1) to demonstrate the utility of using direct indicators of assimilation; and 2) to distinguish more clearly between the social characteristics, assimilationist and minority status perspectives. The 1970 Public Use Samples (US Bureau of the Census, 1972) provide the data. Race, ethnic identification and place of birth serve as the criteria for defining ethnicity: Mexican American ethnicity is determined by the response to an ethnic-identification item; Japanese American ethnicity is determined by racial identification; and majority white ethnicity is determined by racial identification, place of birth and of parents' birth and by mutual exclusivity with the other ethnic groups. The analysis is restricted to women between the ages of 35 and 45 who were currently married with spouse present at the time of the 1970 census. 2 indicators of assimilation are marital assimilation and residential segregation, including intermarriage. 3 levels of marital assimilation were measured using dummy variables: 1) endogamous marriage of Mexican American or Japanese American women; 2) exogenous marriage with a male who is not a majority white; and 3) marriage with a majority white. Residential segregation provides a somewhat less direct indicator of assimilation. The data indicate the extent to which each respondent's neighborhood is ethnically segregated. The % of the population in the neighborhood that belongs to a given ethnic category was recorded. Generation of residence, and socioeconomic and marital characteristics were used as control variables. The 3 groups differ markedly in fertility, status, marital patterns and assimilation. The Japanese Americans have an average of 2.38 children, a level that is 7 below the majority white mean and 3.11 below that of the Mexican American women. The Japanese women also possess the highest status levels and most stable marital profile. Both Japanese and Mexican Americans live in neighborhoods that are considerably more ethnic than those in which the majority whites live. Among Mexican American women, the foreign-born and native components differ very little on any dimension--fertility, status, marital factors, or assimilation levels, and the cross-sectional data provide no indication of convergence with majority whites. However, native-born Japanese women have considerably higher status levels, more stable marriages, and higher fertility than the foreign-born women. The relationships between assimilation and fertility support the hypothesis that convergence in fertility levels will accompany assimilation.     

Caregiver Expressed Emotion and Psychiatric Symptoms in African‐Americans with Schizophrenia: An Attempt to Understand the Paradoxical Relationship

Expressed emotion (EE) is a family environmental construct that assesses how much criticism, hostility, and/or emotional over‐involvement a family member expresses about a patient (Hooley, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2007, 3, 329). Having high levels of EE within the family environment has generally been associated with poorer patient outcomes for schizophrenia and a range of other disorders. Paradoxically, for African‐American patients, high‐EE may be associated with a better symptom course (Rosenfarb, Bellack, & Aziz, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2006, 115, 112). However, this finding is in need of additional support and, if confirmed, clarification. In line with previous research, using a sample of 30 patients with schizophrenia and their primary caregivers, we hypothesized that having a caregiver classified as low‐EE would be associated with greater patient symptom severity. We also aimed to better understand why this pattern may exist by examining the content of interviews taken from the Five‐Minute Speech Sample. Results supported study hypotheses. In line with Rosenfarb et al. (2006), having a low‐EE caregiver was associated with greater symptom severity in African‐American patients. A content analysis uncovered some interesting patterns that may help elucidate this finding. Results of this study suggest that attempts to lower high‐EE in African Americans may, in fact, be counterproductive.     

Free will perceptions,religious coping,and other mental health outcomes in caregivers of individuals with dementia

Caring for a person with dementia often results in depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life (QoL). Pinpointing beliefs and practices that reduce this distress is imperative. The current study tested the hypotheses that greater free will perceptions and religious coping would be associated with greater QoL and other mental health indicators in a sample of 107 dementia caregivers. The results of regression and content analyses supported the expectation that free will and religious coping would be associated with greater QoL. Relationships also emerged among free will perceptions, religious coping, anxiety, and depression. Clinical implications are discussed.