William A Vega
Biographic Data
| ID | 150049 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William A Vega |
| GIVEN NAMES | William A |
| FAMILY NAME | Vega |
| SIGNATURE | VEGA W A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Berkeley |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 74 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1374 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 73 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Identity Styles Moderate the Role of Insecure Attachment Dimensions on Internalizing Behaviors
The present study examined how identity styles and romantic attachment dimensions predict internalizing problems among 456 college students. Results indicated that the diffuse-avoidant identity style was positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas the normative identity style was negatively related to generalized anxiety. Anxious attachment was positively related to both internalizing problems, and avoidant attachment was related posi…
Duration of Dementia and Social Service Use in the U.S.-Born and Foreign-Born Mexican-American Population
Given the high cost of institutional care and availability of family caregivers, community-based services are a potentially useful alternative for the growing Mexican-American population living with dementia. Expanded Medicaid and CBS programs could be an equitable and cost-effective alternative that should be investigated
Depressive Symptoms and Resilience among Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining the Moderating Effects of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Family Cohesion, and Social Support
Emerging adulthood has been described as a difficult stage in life and may be particularly stressful for Hispanic emerging adults who are disproportionately exposed to adversity and chronic sociocultural stressors. To better prevent and treat depressive disorders among Hispanic emerging adults, more research is needed to identify and understand modifiable determinants that can help this population enhance their capacity to offset and recover from…
Contextualizing Health and Aging in the Americas: Effects of Space, Time and Place
Growing Economic Inequality Sustains Health Disparities
Affordable Housing: A Key Lever to Community Health for Older Americans
Affordable Housing: A Key Lever to Community Health for Older Americans Affiliation William A. Vega PhD, and Steven P. Wallace PhDWilliam A. Vega is Provost Professor of Social Work, Preventive Medicine, Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Gerontology, and Executive Director of the Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Steven P. Wallace is Professor and Chair of the Department of Community H…
Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence in Male Baby Boom and Elderly South Korean Cohorts
Mexicans’ use of illicit drugs in an era of drug reform: National comparative analysis by migrant status
Emergency Department Services Use Among Immigrant and Non-immigrant Groups in the United States
HIV infection among people who inject drugs: The challenge of racial/ethnic disparities
Racial/ethnic disparities in HIV infection, with minority groups typically having higher rates of infection, are a formidable public health challenge. In the United States, among both men and women who inject drugs, HIV infection rates are elevated among Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks. A meta-analysis of international research concluded that among persons who inject drugs, racial and ethnic minorities were twice as likely to acquire an HIV inf…
US Cultural Involvement and Its Association With Suicidal Behavior Among Youths in the Dominican Republic
Objectives. We examined how US cultural involvement related to suicide attempts among youths in the Dominican Republic. Methods. We analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of youths attending high school in the Dominican Republic (n = 8446). The outcome of interest was a suicide attempt during the past year. The US cultural involvement indicators included time spent living in the United States, number of friends who had lived in the…
Depression Care in the United States: Too Little for Too Few
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and adequacy of depression care among different ethnic and racial groups in the United States. DESIGN: Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) data were analyzed to calculate nationally representative estimates of depression care. SETTING: The 48 coterminous United States. PARTICIPANTS: Household residents 18 years and older (N = 15 762) participated in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Past-ye…
The epidemiology of major depression and ethnicity in the United States
Neighborhood Protective Effects on Depression in Latinos
Neighborhood social ecologies may have protective effects on depression in Latinos, after adjusting for demographic risk factors, such as nativity and length of stay in the US. This study examines the effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and linguistic isolation on depression in a heterogeneous urban Latino population from 1,468 adult respondents in Los Angeles County. We used multilevel models to analyze how major depression is associated…
Health Disparities in the Latino Population
In this review, the authors provide an approach to the study of health disparities in the US Latino population and evaluate the evidence, using mortality rates for discrete medical conditions and the total US population as a standard for comparison. They examine the demographic structure of the Latino population and how nativity, age, income, and education are related to observed patterns of health and mortality. A key issue discussed is how to i…
The Health of Older Mexican Americans in the Long Run
Objectives. We compared risk for several medical illnesses between immigrant and US-born older Mexican Americans to determine the relationship between functional health and years of US residency among immigrants. Methods. Cross-sectional, multistage probability sample data for 3050 Mexican Americans aged 65 years or older from 5 US southwestern states were analyzed. Self-rated health, medical illnesses, and functional measures were examined in mu…
Prevalence and correlates of dual diagnoses in U.S. Latinos
The Interaction of Country of Origin, Acculturation, and Gender Role Ideology on Wife Abuse
Objective. Using data from the Mexican American Prevalence and Services Survey ( Vega et al., 1998 ), this research tests whether the impact of acculturation and gender role ideology on wife abuse depends on country of origin. Methods. Two separate logistic regressions, one for U.S.‐born Latinas and one for Mexican‐born Latinas, are compared to test the impact of the interaction of place of origin with the other variables. Results. Our findings s…
Clinical calibration of DSM‐IV diagnoses in the World Mental Health (WMH) version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH‐CIDI)
An overview is presented of the rationale, design, and analysis plan for the WMH‐CIDI clinical calibration studies. As no clinical gold standard assessment is available for the DSM‐IV disorders assessed in the WMH‐CIDI, we adopted the goal of calibration rather than validation; that is, we asked whether WMH‐CIDI diagnoses are ‘consistent’ with diagnoses based on a state‐of‐the‐art clinical research diagnostic interview (SCID; Structured Clinical …
Month Prevalence of DSM-III-R Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican Americans: Nativity, Social Assimilation, and Age Determinants
The burden of disease attributable to mental illnesses has major costs and human services implications in the United States. Mexican Americans compose two thirds of the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, Latinos. We report 12-month DSM-III-R psychiatric disorder rates among Mexican Americans derived from a population survey of immigrants and US-born adults of Mexican origin conducted in rural and urban areas of central Californi…
Considering context, place and culture: The National Latino and Asian American Study
This paper provides a rationale for, and overview of, procedures used to develop the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). The NLAAS is nationally representative community household survey that estimates the prevalence of mental disorders and rates of mental health service utilization by Latinos and Asian Americans in the US. The central aims of the NLAAS are to: 1) describe the lifetime and 12‐month prevalence of psychiatric disorder…
Acculturation and Acculturation Stress: A Social-Epidemiological Approach to Mexican Migrant Farmworkers’ Health
Utilizing a cluster sampling design to maximize representativeness, we look at the health effects of acculturation and acculturation stressors among 1,001 adult migrant farmworkers in Fresno, California. Using self-ratings of mental and physical health as well as the CES-D depression scale, we find that the amount of time one spends in the United States, the level of English-language usage, as well as the intensity of acculturation stresses that …
Employment Frustration and Alcohol Abuse/Dependence Among Labor Migrants in California
Co-Occurring Alcohol, Drug, and Other Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican-Origin People in the United States
We examined co-occurrence of (comorbid) alcohol, drug, and non–substance use psychiatric disorders in a population sample of Mexican-origin adults from rural and urban areas of central California. Co-occurring lifetime rates of alcohol or other drug disorders with non–substance use psychiatric disorders, or both, were 8.3% for men and 5.5% for women and were 12.3% for the US born and 3.5% for immigrants. Alcohol abuse or dependence with co-occurr…
Parental risk factors and social assimilation in alcohol dependence of Mexican Americans
Reciprocal influences of parent risk factors on assimilation were found, suggesting that parental behavioral factor effects on AAD in adult children of Mexican Americans are subordinate to social and cultural assimilation
Perceived Discrimination and Depression among Mexican-Origin Adults in California
We contend that perceived discrimination has an independent effect on depression outcomes among adults of Mexican origin. Using a sample of 3,012 Mexican-origin respondents in Fresno, California in 1995/96 (ages 18-59) we investigate the direct and moderating connections between perceived discrimination, acculturative stress, and mental health (CES-D). We also investigate the social patterning of perceived discrimination. While more highly accult…
Acculturation Stress, Social Support, and Self-Rated Health Among Latinos in California
The Role of Discrimination and Acculturative Stress in the Physical Health of Mexican-Origin Adults
The authors propose that perceived discrimination has an effect on self-reported health statuses, which are known to affect future morbidity and mortality. A sample of 3,012 Mexican-origin adults from the Mexican American Prevalence and Services Study in California is utilized to test this hypothesis. Dependent variables include a self-rating of health and a count of self-reported chronic conditions; the key independent variable is a scale of ove…
Two Different Worlds: Acculturation Stress and Adaptation among Cuban and Nicaraguan Families
This is a study of acculturation and acculturation stress among Cuban and Nicaraguan adolescent males and their parents. The sample consisted of 674 Cuban-American and 211 Nicaraguan-American 6th and 7th grade adolescents and one of their parents. Hypotheses predicting group differences in acculturation stress were tested. Analyses were bivariate and multivariate, using parent and adolescent data. Findings indicated important differences in accul…
Hispanic Families in the 1980s: A Decade of Research
Depressive symptoms and their correlates among immigrant Mexican women in the United States
Neighborhood Protective Effects on Depression in Latinos
Neighborhood social ecologies may have protective effects on depression in Latinos, after adjusting for demographic risk factors, such as nativity and length of stay in the US. This study examines the effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and linguistic isolation on depression in a heterogeneous urban Latino population from 1,468 adult respondents in Los Angeles County. We used multilevel models to analyze how major depression is associated…
Risk factors for early adolescent drug use in four ethnic and racial groups
OBJECTIVES. It is widely believed that risk factors identified in previous epidemiologic studies accurately predict adolescent drug use. Comparative studies are needed to determine how risk factors vary in prevalence, distribution, sensitivity, and pattern across the major US ethnic/racial groups. METHODS. Baseline questionnaire data from a 3-year epidemiologic study of early adolescent development and drug use were used to conduct bivariate and …
Social Networks, Social Support, and their Relationship to Depression among Immigrant Mexican Women
This empirical study uses data derived from a community survey of women of Mexican descent in San Diego County in order to identify characteristics of immigrant social networks, and determine how these characteristics are related to emotional support and personal distress. Correlational and chi-square analyses were used to manipulate aggregate data. Major findings are that social networks, including both friends and family, are available from the…
Acculturation and delinquent behavior among Cuban American adolescents: Toward an empirical model
Uses data derived from a study of 6th- and 7th-grade Cuban American adolescents in the greater Miami, Florida, area. The effects of immigrant cultural adjustment on the behavior of adolescents, especially deviant behavior, has been a subject of interest for decades. However, heretofore, little empirical research has been conducted. Key findings indicate that family factors are related to the development of attitudes favoring deviance, whereas acc…
Acculturation Strain Theory: Its Application in Explaining Drug Use Behavior Among Cuban and Other Hispanic Youth
This paper presents a review and synthesis of the acculturation process, culture change, and social psychological stress literatures and proposes an empirical model combining elements of all three to explain Latino adolescent drug use in the context of other explanatory factors. The paper assesses current knowledge and urges use of integrative theoretical models that explore risk/protective and unique cultural adjustment factors affecting Latinos…
Acculturation and Acculturation Stress: A Social-Epidemiological Approach to Mexican Migrant Farmworkers’ Health
Utilizing a cluster sampling design to maximize representativeness, we look at the health effects of acculturation and acculturation stressors among 1,001 adult migrant farmworkers in Fresno, California. Using self-ratings of mental and physical health as well as the CES-D depression scale, we find that the amount of time one spends in the United States, the level of English-language usage, as well as the intensity of acculturation stresses that …
Teacher and parent perceptions of behavior problems among a sample of African American, Hispanic, and non‐Hispanic white studients
A multiracial/multiethnic sample of middle school adolescents and their teachers was used to assess whether teacher ratings of student behavior problems varied according to teacher‐student racial/ethnic differences and students' perception of teachers' attitudes toward them. No significant mean score differences were found for Hispanic or non‐Hispanic white students according to the race/ethnicity of the teachers doing the ratings. However, Afric…
Psychiatric symptomatology among Mexican American farmworkers
Temporal Influences of Family Structure and Family Risk Factors on Drug Use Initiation in a Multiethnic Sample of Adolescent Boys
Theoretical and pragmatic implications of cultural diversity for community research
Cohesion and Adaptability in Mexican-American and Anglo Families
This article reports data from a community sample of Anglos and Mexican Americans concerning two dimensions of family functioning: cohesion and adaptability. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-II (FACES) were used with a sample of 294 parents with school-age children who were taking part in a large community-based health promotion project. In addition, an acculturation measure was used in order to test for differences that mig…
Co-Occurring Alcohol, Drug, and Other Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican-Origin People in the United States
We examined co-occurrence of (comorbid) alcohol, drug, and non–substance use psychiatric disorders in a population sample of Mexican-origin adults from rural and urban areas of central California. Co-occurring lifetime rates of alcohol or other drug disorders with non–substance use psychiatric disorders, or both, were 8.3% for men and 5.5% for women and were 12.3% for the US born and 3.5% for immigrants. Alcohol abuse or dependence with co-occurr…
Psychoneuroses among Mexican Americans and other whites: Prevalence and Caseness
This paper reports the findings from an epidemiological survey conducted in California using the Health Opinion Survey (HOS), a measure of psychoneuroticism, as well as other scales and inventories. Uncontrolled results indicate that Mexican Americans have higher symptom and case levels, but that these differences are found primarily among marginally acculturated and immigrant respondents. HOS caseness levels were 15.4 for Spanish-speaking Mexica…
Migration and Mental Health: An Empirical Test of Depression Risk Factors among Immigrant Mexican Women
The Interaction of Country of Origin, Acculturation, and Gender Role Ideology on Wife Abuse
Objective. Using data from the Mexican American Prevalence and Services Survey ( Vega et al., 1998 ), this research tests whether the impact of acculturation and gender role ideology on wife abuse depends on country of origin. Methods. Two separate logistic regressions, one for U.S.‐born Latinas and one for Mexican‐born Latinas, are compared to test the impact of the interaction of place of origin with the other variables. Results. Our findings s…
Migration and Mental Health: An Empirical Test of Depression Risk Factors among Immigrant Mexican Women
Empirical research in the field of migration and mental health is rare and its recent appearance follows decades of inconsistent reports in the research literature about the risks posed by numerous precipitating and predisposing factors. This article has two goals: to summarize critically selected issues and methodological problems regarding mental health implications of migration-adaptation, and, to test empirically hypotheses derived from the F…
The Relationship of Marital Status, Confidant Support, and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women
William A. Vega, Bohdan Kolody, Juan Ramon Valle, The Relationship of Marital Status, Confidant Support, and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Aug., 1986), pp. 597-605
Marital Disruption and the Prevalence of Depressive Symptomatology among Anglos and Mexican Americans
William A. Vega, George J. Warheit, Kenneth Meinhardt, Marital Disruption and the Prevalence of Depressive Symptomatology among Anglos and Mexican Americans, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 817-824
Contextual Effects of Perinatal Substance Exposure among Black and White Women in California
This secondary analysis assessed the impact of neighborhood characteristics on individual substance exposures among pregnant women in California. Zip code-level census data were attached to data from the 1992 California Perinatal Substance Exposure Study to serve as a proxy for neighborhood characteristics. The central hypothesis of this study suggests that there are differences in substance exposure rates among women living in neighborhoods with…
Interpersonal coping networks and mental health problems among four race-ethnic groups
This paper presents field survey data on the availability and use of familial and friendship networks and their relationships to mental health. The samples (n = 5,174) include Whites, Blacks, Mexican Americans, Anglos, and Guamanians. More than two-thirds of all respondents in the various race-ethnic groups reported nearby family members upon whom they could call in times of need. Approximately three-fourths of the same respondents indicated havi…
Marital Disruption and the Prevalence of Depressive Symptomatology among Anglos and Mexican Americans
William A. Vega, George J. Warheit, Kenneth Meinhardt, Marital Disruption and the Prevalence of Depressive Symptomatology among Anglos and Mexican Americans, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Nov., 1984), pp. 817-824
Psychoneuroses among Mexican Americans and other whites: Prevalence and Caseness
This paper reports the findings from an epidemiological survey conducted in California using the Health Opinion Survey (HOS), a measure of psychoneuroticism, as well as other scales and inventories. Uncontrolled results indicate that Mexican Americans have higher symptom and case levels, but that these differences are found primarily among marginally acculturated and immigrant respondents. HOS caseness levels were 15.4 for Spanish-speaking Mexica…
Psychiatric symptomatology among Mexican American farmworkers
Depressive symptoms and their correlates among immigrant Mexican women in the United States
Cohesion and Adaptability in Mexican-American and Anglo Families
This article reports data from a community sample of Anglos and Mexican Americans concerning two dimensions of family functioning: cohesion and adaptability. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-II (FACES) were used with a sample of 294 parents with school-age children who were taking part in a large community-based health promotion project. In addition, an acculturation measure was used in order to test for differences that mig…
The Relationship of Marital Status, Confidant Support, and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women
William A. Vega, Bohdan Kolody, Juan Ramon Valle, The Relationship of Marital Status, Confidant Support, and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Women, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Aug., 1986), pp. 597-605
Migration and Mental Health: An Empirical Test of Depression Risk Factors among Immigrant Mexican Women
Empirical research in the field of migration and mental health is rare and its recent appearance follows decades of inconsistent reports in the research literature about the risks posed by numerous precipitating and predisposing factors. This article has two goals: to summarize critically selected issues and methodological problems regarding mental health implications of migration-adaptation, and, to test empirically hypotheses derived from the F…
Migration and Mental Health: An Empirical Test of Depression Risk Factors among Immigrant Mexican Women
Depressive symptomatology in northern Mexico adults
A cross-sectional field survey of 991 people in Tijuana, Mexico, a border city experiencing unbridled population growth, was designed to measure levels of depressive symptoms and identify correlates using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression measure (CES-D). Bivariate and multivariate analyses of the data indicate that similar variables are highly associated with depressive symptoms in the US and Mexico: low socioeconomic status, fem…
Marital Strain, Coping, and Depression among Mexican-American Women
Hispanics and Mental Health: A Framework for Research
Hispanic Families in the 1980s: A Decade of Research
Ethnic Minorities And Mental Health
The sociological study of the mental health of racial-ethnic minorities addresses issues of core theoretical and empirical concern to the discipline. This review summarizes current knowledge about minority mental health and identifies conceptual and methodological problems that continue to confront research in this field. First, a critique is presented of epidemiological approaches to the definition and measurement of mental health in general, an…
Culture and the Restructuring of Community Mental Health
Culture and the Restructuring of Community Mental Health
Social Networks, Social Support, and their Relationship to Depression among Immigrant Mexican Women
This empirical study uses data derived from a community survey of women of Mexican descent in San Diego County in order to identify characteristics of immigrant social networks, and determine how these characteristics are related to emotional support and personal distress. Correlational and chi-square analyses were used to manipulate aggregate data. Major findings are that social networks, including both friends and family, are available from the…
Theoretical and pragmatic implications of cultural diversity for community research
Acculturation and delinquent behavior among Cuban American adolescents: Toward an empirical model
Uses data derived from a study of 6th- and 7th-grade Cuban American adolescents in the greater Miami, Florida, area. The effects of immigrant cultural adjustment on the behavior of adolescents, especially deviant behavior, has been a subject of interest for decades. However, heretofore, little empirical research has been conducted. Key findings indicate that family factors are related to the development of attitudes favoring deviance, whereas acc…
Risk factors for early adolescent drug use in four ethnic and racial groups
OBJECTIVES. It is widely believed that risk factors identified in previous epidemiologic studies accurately predict adolescent drug use. Comparative studies are needed to determine how risk factors vary in prevalence, distribution, sensitivity, and pattern across the major US ethnic/racial groups. METHODS. Baseline questionnaire data from a 3-year epidemiologic study of early adolescent development and drug use were used to conduct bivariate and …
Patterns of drug use among Cuban-American, African-American, and white non-Hispanic boys
This study examined initiation into drug use during grade school years in a sample of Cuban-American, Black, and White non-Hispanic students in the greater Miami, Fla, area. Findings indicate that first use of alcohol occurs in fifth grade and cigarettes in sixth grade for all subgroups except White non-Hispanics, who peak in the fifth grade. White non-Hispanics had the highest life-time levels of alcohol and cigarette use. Foreign-born Cuban Ame…
Cultural Mistrust and Racial Awareness among Ethnically Diverse Black Adolescent Boys
Using survey datafrom a study of adolescents in Miami, Florida, data on cultural mistrust and racial awareness are presentedfrom a multiethnic sample of 1,328 Black adolescent boys: 946 African American Blacks, 196 Haitians, and 186 Caribbean Islanders from countries other than Haiti. Of the Haitians and other Caribbean Island students, half were born outside the United States. Overall, Haitians, especially foreign-born ones, expressed more mistr…
Latino Outlook: Good Health, Uncertain Prognosis
In recent decades, there has been remarkable growth in scientific research examining the multiple ways in which racism can adversely affect health. This interest has been driven in part by the striking persistence of racial/ethnic inequities in health and ...Read More
Acculturative stress and personal adjustment among hispanic adolescent boys
This paper presents a comparative analysis of the effects of acculturation and acculturative stress on the self-esteem of Hispanic/Latino adolescents. The study is comparative in that it focuses on variations among both immigrant and native-born Hispanics. The data were derived from a longitudinal study of adolescents (n = 6,760) being conducted in Miami, Florida. The sample for this paper (n = 4,296) consisted of all the adolescents of Hispanic …
Who is Hispanic? Definitions and their consequences
What is the appropriate method for classifying Spanish-speaking-origin inhabitants of the United States? This paper presents relevant data from the first wave of a longitudinal study of adolescents in the greater Miami area. As expected, the broadest definition--"up to third generation" Hispanic--identified the largest proportion of the sample as Hispanic, whereas parent self-report placed the smallest proportion into the Hispanic category. When …
Medicine (53 works) · Psychology (53 works) · Psychiatry (39 works) · Environmental health (32 works) · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research (32 works) · Sociology (30 works) · Demography (28 works) · Immigration (28 works) · Population (26 works) · Gerontology (25 works)