Masters Thesis

Family characteristics and parental behaviors in relation to depressive symptoms in the emerging adult Latino population

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Latino emerging adults' perceptions of family cohesion, family flexibility, family hardiness, parental support, and parental intrusiveness in relation to depression. Self-report surveys were collected online and in-class (i.e., paper/pencil) from 549 Latino undergraduate students from lower and upper division general education courses. Participants' ages ranged from 18-25 years. Bivariate correlations indicated family cohesion and flexibility were significantly and negatively related to depression in both men and women; however, family hardiness was only related to depression in women. Correlations showed that parental support was significantly and negatively related to depression in men and women, and parental intrusiveness was significantly and positively related to depression in men and women. Structural equation models revealed that parental intrusiveness partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and depression for men, and fully mediated the relationship for women. To summarize, family functioning may serve as a protective factor against depression in the Latino community, while parental intrusiveness can increase risk of depression in Latino emerging adults.

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