Anxiety Disorders and Latinos: The Role of Family Cohesion and Family Discord

Family cohesion has shown to be associated with lower psychological distress and other risk behaviors for Latinos, but little is known about the relationship of family cohesion, family discord, and anxiety disorders. Using data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (n = 2,554), this study examines the relationship between family functioning and anxiety disorders for an aggregate Latino sample and for Latino subgroups (Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Other Hispanic). Results for the aggregate sample suggest that family discord is associated with 12-month prevalence of almost all anxiety disorders for Latinos. On the other hand, strong family cohesion is only associated with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. For the subgroups, different patterns of association were found, suggesting the importance of understanding the heterogeneity of Latino culture when studying and treating anxiety disorders.