Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the effects of acculturation on Mexican American teenage mother's willingness to seek mental health services and marginality. Method. After controlling for use of mental health service and income, two variables in the Mexican American and teenage mother literature that were found to contribute to the variance of the dependent variables, statistical analyses that included Pearson correlations, analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), and multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA), were performed. This included acculturation status (traditional, integrated, marginal, assimilated) on willingness to seek help, depression, Anglo marginality, Mexican marginality, and Mexican American marginality among 203 Mexican American teenage mothers. Results. Acculturation status (traditional, integrated, marginal, assimilated) did not significantly affect Mexican American teenage mothers willingness to seek mental health services. More specifically, Mexican American teenage mothers with an integrated and assimilated acculturation status showed no significant differences in their willingness to seek mental health services than their traditional and marginal counterparts. Depression was also assessed due to its significance in the literature. Results suggested acculturation did not have a significant effect on depression among participants. However, acculturation status was found to significantly affect marginality. More specifically, Mexican American teenage mothers with an integrated acculturation status showed greater Anglo marginality than their traditional, marginal and assimilated counterparts, respectively. Discussion. These findings were inconsistent with previous research studies that suggested acculturation was related to seeking mental health services among Latino American populations. Results of this study discovered Mexican American teenage mothers, regardless of acculturation status, are willing to seek mental health services but report low utilization of such services. A clinical implication of this study suggests Mexican American teenage mothers are not receiving the mental health services they truly need. Thus, when establishing mental health agencies that service Mexican American communities, acculturation issues, feelings of marginality, and other barriers to treatment need to be addressed in order to increase utilization among this specific population.