Associations Between Cultural Values, Acculturation, Intimate Partner Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Mexican American Women

The current study sought to test the associations between cultural values (i.e., familismo, religiosity, respect, traditional gender roles), acculturation, and enculturation with intimate partner violence (IPV) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

313 Mexican American women completed an online survey in either English or Spanish.

In this sample, 33.9% met the cutoff score for experiencing IPV victimization and 62.6% met the cutoff score for a probable PTSD diagnosis. Higher levels of IPV victimization were related to older age, lower family income, and lower acculturation. After controlling for demographic correlates, familismo was found to uniquely predict IPV such that higher levels of familismo were related to higher IPV victimization. Neither acculturation, enculturation, nor other cultural values (i.e., religiosity, respect, traditional gender roles) uniquely predicted IPV. Additionally, higher PTSD symptoms were related to lower age, lower education level, lower family income, sexual minority status, higher IPV scores, and higher endorsement of traditional gender roles. IPV victimization uniquely predicted PTSD symptoms beyond the effects of demographic variables, with higher IPV scores related to higher PTSD symptoms. Moreover, traditional gender role endorsement uniquely predicted PTSD symptoms after accounting for demographic variables and IPV. Familismo, religiosity, respect, acculturation, and enculturation did not uniquely predict PTSD symptoms.

The results of this research highlight the need to attend to familismo in IPV prevention and intervention efforts in Mexican American communities as well as attending to traditional gender role endorsement when treating PTSD in Mexican American women.