Older Latino Mental Health: A Complicated Picture
| Autor: | Veronica Cardenas, Daniel E. Jimenez, David Martinez Garza, María J. Marquine |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Gerontology
medicine.medical_specialty Health (social science) Special Issue: Race and Mental Health Among Older Adults Migration history media_common.quotation_subject Population Invited Articles Health Professions (miscellaneous) 03 medical and health sciences Social support 0302 clinical medicine medicine Social inequality 030212 general & internal medicine Older Latino Life-span and Life-course Studies education AcademicSubjects/SOC02600 media_common education.field_of_study 030214 geriatrics Public health Mental illness medicine.disease Mental health Mental health treatment and prevention Psychology Psychopathology Diversity (politics) |
| Zdroj: | Innovation in Aging |
| ISSN: | 2399-5300 |
| Popis: | The aggregation of Latino subgroups in national studies creates an overly simplistic narrative that Latinos are at lower risk of mental illness and that foreign nativity seems protective against mental illness (i.e., immigrant paradox). This broad generalization does not hold up as the Latino population ages. Given that social inequalities for risk appear to widen with age, the social disadvantages of being Latino in the United States increase the risk for mental illness across the life span. This review focuses on the mental health of older Latinos, specifically the 3 subgroups with the longest residential history in the United States—Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. We examine relevant epidemiological and clinical psychopathology studies on aging in these Latino populations and present evidence of the heterogeneity of the older Latino population living in the United States, thus illustrating a limitation in this field—combining Latino subgroups despite their diversity because of small sample sizes. We address the migration experience—how intraethnic differences and age of migration affect mental health—and discuss social support and discrimination as key risk and protective factors. We conclude with a discussion on meeting the mental health needs of older Latinos with a focus on prevention, a promising approach to addressing mental illness in older Latinos, and future directions for mental health research in this population. Success in this endeavor would yield a substantial reduction in the burden of late-life depression and anxiety and a positive public health impact. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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