Stress and Depression Among Latina Women in Rural Southeastern North Carolina

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to assess the level of depression and types of major stressors, and to identify stressors contributing to depression, among 135 Latina women in rural southeastern North Carolina. Nearly half of the participants (47.6%) had scores of greater than, or equal to, 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, used to identify possible depression, suggesting the need for early intervention. “Difficult to be away from family members,” “immigration status,” and “religion” were the most reliable predictors of stress, accounting for 34.5% of the total variance in depression.