Family or friends: who plays a greater supportive role for Latino college students?
This study compared the relative contribution of perceived family and friend support to psychological well-being and distress and examined whether family or friend support moderated the effects of stress on psychological adjustment in 338 Latino (228 Mexican American, 110 Central American) college students from a predominantly Latino university. Two multiple regressions, controlling for gender, socioeconomic level, acculturation level, and stresses (generic college, acculturative, and minority status), showed that friend support made a slightly greater contribution to well-being than family support, and friend support and not family support protected against psychological distress. Neither family nor friend support moderated the effects of stress on psychological adjustment. Further examination of these variables that assess common-specific stresses within a culture-specific theoretical framework is recommended.
Rodriguez
Norma
N
Department of Psychology, Pitzer College, 1050 North Mills, Claremont, California 91711, USA. nrodrigu@hal.pitzer.edu
Mira
Consuelo Bingham
CB
Myers
Hector F
HF
Morris
Julie K
JK
Cardoza
Desdemona
D
D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002489:Central America / Q000208:ethnology; D005195:Family Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D012944:Social Support; D015206:Southwestern United States; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities