Acculturation and disordered eating patterns among Mexican American women.
OBJECTIVE
This quantitative study examined the relationship between acculturation and disordered eating patterns among different generations of Mexican American women.


METHODS
Participants included 139 Mexican American women (mean age = 29.1) drawn from local undergraduate courses and community agencies. The posttest-only design included a demographic measure, Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA), and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26).


RESULTS
Of the five generations studied, second-generation women endorsed the most disordered eating patterns and the highest degrees of concurrent acculturation. Moreover, there was a significant, positive correlation between acculturation and Factor III of the EAT which highlights control of eating and perceived pressure from others to gain weight. Participants scoring beyond the EAT cut-off score endorsed bulimic symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Differing intergenerational ideals regarding weight may create special strains for second-generation Mexican American women. Criteria for disordered eating in a population previously not considered at risk should be further assessed and clinicians should be careful not to underdiagnose among this group.
Chamorro
R
R
Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. rchamorr@caregroup.harvard.edu
Flores-Ortiz
Y
Y
D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D001504:Beauty; D001828:Body Image; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012495:San Francisco; D012945:Social Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*