Family or friends: who plays a greater supportive role for Latino college students?
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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Norma Rodriguez1, Consuelo Bingham Mira, Hector F Myers
1Department of Psychology, Pitzer College, 1050 North Mills, Claremont, California 91711, USA. nrodrigu@hal.pitzer.edu
Abstract:
This study compared the relative contribution of perceived family and friend support to psychological well-being and distress and examined whether family or friend support moderated the effects of stress on psychological adjustment in 338 Latino (228 Mexican American, 110 Central American) college students from a predominantly Latino university. Two multiple regressions, controlling for gender, socioeconomic level, acculturation level, and stresses (generic college, acculturative, and minority status), showed that friend support made a slightly greater contribution to well-being than family support, and friend support and not family support protected against psychological distress. Neither family nor friend support moderated the effects of stress on psychological adjustment. Further examination of these variables that assess common-specific stresses within a culture-specific theoretical framework is recommended.
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