The relative impact of family and social involvement on chicano mental health

In a household survey, Chicanos attributed significantly more importance to family relationships than did other ethnic groups. For Chicanos, both family satisfaction and social (other than family) satisfaction correlated highly with psychological well-being. Using multiple regression analysis to control for age and income, it was found that for Chicanos family satisfaction was more predictive of overall well-being and positive affect than was social satisfaction. However, social satisfaction was more predictive of level of negative affect than was family satisfaction. The results suggest that the Chicano family may function primarily to provide a positive environment for its members rather than mitigating the stressful effects of a negative environment.