Culture and psychopathology: a study of Puerto Ricans

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.