Portuguese-American Teenage Depression: Whose Fault?
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Authors
Pancada, Ana Maria
Issue Date
1982
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This study researched the recollection of twenty-five mothers of Portuguese descent (some being born in Portugal and some being born in the U.S.) regarding their child-rearing techniques, by using part of the "Patterns of Child Rearing" questionnaires by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin (1957). These mothers' teenagers were tested on their depressive symptoms by using part of the "Self-Rating Depressive Scale" by Zung, W. K., (1964). The results did not show a significant relationship between the teenagers' level of depression and the mothers' country of birth. High toilet training severity did not cause higher depression than lower toilet training severity. Separation from the mother during the first nine months showed little association with depression. While these early child-raising variables did not show association with depression, some variables dealing with the present family climate were related to teenage depression. A restrictive environment showed an approximately equal amount of High Depression and Low Depression. However, a not-so-restrictive environment showed less amount of High Depression scores than Low Depression scores. The mother-child affectionate relationship showed less High Depression. Where the relationship was not affectionate, there was no Low Depression score; all the teenagers were highly depressed.