title: The cultural influences on help-seeking among a national sample of victimized Latino women.
abstract: The current study examined the influence of legal status and cultural variables (i.e., acculturation, gender role ideology and religious coping) on the formal and informal help-seeking efforts of Latino women who experienced interpersonal victimization. The sample was drawn from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) Study that surveyed 2,000 self-identified adult Latino women. The random digit dial methodology employed in high-density Latino neighborhoods resulted in a cooperation rate of 53.7%. Women who experienced lifetime victimization (n = 714) reported help-seeking efforts in response to their most distressful victimization event that occurred in the US. Approximately one-third of the women reported formal help-seeking and about 70% of women reported informal help-seeking. Help-seeking responses were generally not predicted by the cultural factors measured, with some exceptions. Anglo orientation and negative religious coping increased the likelihood of formal help-seeking. Positive religious coping, masculine gender role and Anglo acculturation increased the likelihood of specific forms of informal help-seeking. Latino orientation decreased the likelihood of talking to a sibling. Overall, these findings reinforce the importance of bilingual culturally competent services as cultural factors shape the ways in which women respond to victimization either formally or within their social networks.
authors.affiliation: School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA 17057, USA. sabina@psu.edu
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabina
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Schally
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology