victim to criminals and other types of unethical people who specialize in exploiting Hispanic immigrants, especially if they are illegal.
The difficult conditions which these women experience have been found to be associated with a number of psychoemotional problems including feelings of isolation, insecurity, uncontrolled rage, helplessness, hopelessness, depression, and anxiety (Sahagun, 1990). In other words, there is reason to believe that the mental health of this particular group of women is at great risk.
This means that determining factors which may operate to assist Central American women from falling victim to psychoemotional pressures associated with their immigrant status is a needed and important area of research for this population. This study attempted to address this need by examining factors that may affect (both positively and negatively) the mental health status of a sample of Central American immigrant women.
The conducted research examined whether indices of mental health status (level of acculturation stress and level of depression) among Central American immigrant females significantly differed in relation to a number of background and demographic variables. The demographic and background variables which have been selected for study are:
4) Number of Continuous Years in the United States;
7) Reasons for leaving country of origin;
8) Whether the move was carefully planned;
9) Perception of opportunities to succeed in the United States;
10) Whether the move would be repeated;
11) Belief that the culture in the United States is compatible with the culture of the country of origin;
12) Whether subject would like to have more relatives living in the United States;
13) Whether subject would like to have more friends living in the United States;
(14) Degree of perceived difficulty regarding visiting friends and relatives living in country of origin; and
The foregoing ...