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Ethnicity, gender and social stress among three groups of elderly Hispanics

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Abstract

This study examines ethnic and gender differences in social stress amongthree groups of elderly Hispanics: Mexican Americans (n = 773), CubanAmericans (n = 714), and Puerto Ricans (n = 368). Findings from thecrosstabulation analysis between stress and ethnic groups reveal that theelderly Cuban Americans appear to experience less caregiving, family,anxiety, and social dependence stress than their Mexican Americans andPuerto Rican American counterparts. Findings from the crosstabulationanalysis between stress and gender reveal that elderly Hispanic womenwere more likely to experience family, anxiety, social isolation, and socialdependence stress. The logistic regression analyses reveal that ethnicdifferences in family stress, and anxiety and gender differences incaregiving stress and social isolation stress were confounded bydifferences in sociodemographic and health variables. Further sub-groupanalyses of ethnic and gender differences provide a more in-depthunderstanding of social dependency stress and anxiety. Implications forhuman services and research are discussed.

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Tran, T.V. Ethnicity, gender and social stress among three groups of elderly Hispanics. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 12, 341–356 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006567200737

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