Contributions to depression in latina mothers with and without children with retardation: Implications for caregiving

Contributions to depression in 148 Latina mothers with and 101 without children with mental retardation were investigated. Depressive symptomatology was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977). Depression was elevated in both Latina samples relative to a normative group. Furthermore, Latina mothers who had children with mental retardation showed significantly higher levels of depressive symptomatology relative to controls. Depression was predicted by low family cohesion, poor health of the mother, absence of spouse or partner, less use of passive appraisal as a coping strategy, and presence of a child with mental retardation.