Testing Sociocultural Explanations for Latino Health Paradoxes: The Case of Social Support and Depression

Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Flavia Andrade, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

We tested sociocultural explanations for Latino health outcomes by examining whether positive social support from and negative interactions with spouses/partners, friends/relatives, and children explained nativity differences in depressive symptoms. We analyzed data from the 2001-2003 Chicago Community Adult Health Study. Immigrants and U.S.-born Latinos reported similar levels of positive support from friends/relatives and spouses/partners; however, U.S.-born Latinos reported higher levels of negative interactions with friends and spouses but lower levels of negative interactions with their children. Negative interactions with spouses/partners and from friends/relatives explained the nativity differences in mental health among Latinos. Except for marital support, none of the other sources of positive social support explained the mental health advantage observed among immigrants. Our study shows that availability and quality of social support by nativity in the United States is multifaceted, and that explanations in the literature for immigrant and Latino health outcomes require deeper examination and more nuanced theorizing.