The childbearing beliefs and practices of pregnant Mexican-American adolescents living in Southwest border regions

摘要

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among different levels of acculturation on the childbearing beliefs and practices of pregnant Mexican American adolescents living in Southwest border regions. A descriptive correlational design was used in this study. Three instruments were used to collect data. A total of 73 pregnant Mexican American adolescents participated in the study. The Laredo sample and the Tucson sample were identified as true bicultural samples. The El Paso group was identified as a Mexican-oriented bicultural sample. All geographical areas had an equal acceptance of traditional Mexican medicine and biomedical beliefs. Laredo and Tucson adolesents' beliefs in the traditional Mexican childbearing culture was directly related to their acculturation level. For the El Paso group, there was a low negative correlation which indicated that being more or less acculturated did not necessarily affect the adolescents' beliefs in the traditional Mexican childbearing culture.