Stress, social support, and coping as predictors of depressive symptoms: Gender differences among Mexican Americans

Abstract

The authors investigated stress, coping responses, and social support variables as predictors of psychological distress among 171 Mexican American men and women. The study tested hypotheses positing gender differences in the rates of depressive symptoms as well as differences in factors associated with depressive symptoms. Stepwise regression analyses were conducted for the total sample and separately for each gender. Data indicate that although men and women did not differ significantly in terms of the rate of depressive symptoms, they did differ in terms of the sources of stress and social support associated with depression. The study underscores the need to examine sociocultural phenomenon in the stress-coping-outcome paradigm.