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A qualitative study of Mexican American adolescents and depression
Author(s) -
Fornos Laura B.,
Seguin Mika Virginia,
Bayles Bryan,
Serrano Alberto C.,
Jimenez Roberto L.,
Villarreal Roberto
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2005.00017.x
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychology , qualitative research , focus group , population , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , psychiatry , poison control , medicine , business , environmental health , marketing , social science , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Depressive disorders are present in a high percentage of Mexican American adolescents. Among the US Mexican American population, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 10‐ to 19‐year‐olds. Little research, however, has focused on Mexican American adolescents’ knowledge and views about depression and seeking help for depression. Results from a qualitative study on Mexican American adolescents’ attitudes about depression are investigated in this paper. Sixty‐five high school and middle school students in a largely Mexican American, urban school district in San Antonio, Tex, participated in 9 semistructured, focus group interviews where participants were asked questions to elicit their understanding of depression, treatment for depression, and words used to describe it. Coding of salient words and themes from transcribed interviews were entered into Atlas.ti for qualitative analysis. Three themes emerged: (1) adolescents’ definitions of depression, (2) beliefs about adolescent depression, and (3) treatment for adolescent depression. While depressive symptoms among Mexican American adolescents are common and recognized, resource and treatment knowledge is scarce. An understanding of the beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of these adolescents can provide crucial information about the content and structure of a universal, school‐based, peer‐facilitated depression awareness program . (J Sch Health. 2005;75(5):162‐170)