RESUMEN
Although numerous studies of non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks show that social integration and social support tend to favor longevity, it is unclear whether this general pattern extends to the Mexican American population. Building on previous research, we employed seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to examine the association between perceived social support trajectories and the all-cause mortality risk of older Mexican Americans. Growth mixture estimates revealed three latent classes of support trajectories: high, moderate, and low. Cox regression estimates indicated that older Mexican American men in the low support trajectory tend to exhibit a higher mortality risk than their counterparts in the high support trajectory. Social support trajectories were unrelated to the mortality risk of older Mexican American women. A statistically significant interaction term confirmed that social support was more strongly associated with the mortality risk of men.
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento/etnología , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud/etnología , Americanos Mexicanos/psicología , Americanos Mexicanos/estadística & datos numéricos , Apoyo Social , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Análisis de Varianza , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , MortalidadRESUMEN
Acculturating to the United States confers risk for cardiovascular disease, possibly through cardiovascular reactivity when communicating in a non-native language and interacting with individuals from a different ethnic background. Sixty-four women who immigrated to the United States from Mexico participated in the study. Cardiovascular responses were examined while participants communicated in both English and Spanish with a Caucasian or Mexican-American interaction partner presented via video-recording. Task-related emotional responses and perceptions of the interaction partner were also assessed. Speaking in English evoked greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate than communicating in Spanish, and larger increases in negative affect. English-speaking interaction partners were also viewed as less friendly and more dominant. Interaction partner ethnicity had no effect on cardiovascular reactivity. These findings suggest that health effects of acculturation for Mexican-Americans may involve the cardiovascular stress responses associated with communicating in a non-native language.