Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fatalism and Cardio-Metabolic Dysfunction in Mexican–American Women

  • Published:
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Mexican-American women are disproportionately vulnerable to cardio-metabolic dysfunction and related health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Research shows that low socioeconomic status contributes to this populations excess vulnerability to cardio-metabolic dysfunction, but little is known about the contribution of cultural factors to these associations.

Purpose

The current study explored the association between fatalism and cardio-metabolic dysfunction in a randomly selected community cohort of middle-aged Mexican–American women and examined whether fatalism could be conceptualized as a pathway linking socioeconomic status to cardio-metabolic dysfunction in this population.

Method

Participants included 300 women (ages 40–65), recruited from San Diego communities located near the Mexican border, who completed a self-administered survey battery and underwent a fasting clinical exam between the years 2006 and 2009.

Results

Linear regression analyses and mediation analyses utilizing bootstrapping procedures were performed to test study hypotheses. After controlling for age, menopausal status, and acculturation level, fatalism was associated with cardio-metabolic dysfunction. Although slightly attenuated, this relationship persisted after accounting for socioeconomic status. In addition, individuals of low socioeconomic status displayed more fatalistic beliefs and higher cardio-metabolic dysfunction after accounting for relevant covariates. Finally, the indirect effect of socioeconomic status on cardio-metabolic dysfunction via fatalism reached statistical significance.

Conclusions

Fatalism may be an important independent risk factor for cardio-metabolic dysfunction in Mexican–American women as well as a mechanism linking socioeconomic status to cardio-metabolic health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hutley L, Prins JB. Fat as an endocrine organ: relationship to the metabolic syndrome. Am J Med Sci. 2005;330:280–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Daniels SR, Donato KA, Eckel RH, Franklin BA, et al. Diagnosis and management of the metabolic syndrome. An American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Scientific Statement. Executive summary. Cardiol Rev. 2005;13:322–7.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Salsberry PJ, Corwin E, Reagan PB. A complex web of risks for metabolic syndrome: race/ethnicity, economics, and gender. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33:114–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tonstad S, Sandvik E, Larsen PG, Thelle D. Gender differences in the prevalence and determinants of the metabolic syndrome in screened subjects at risk for coronary heart disease. Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2007;5:174–82.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ford ES. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome defined by the International Diabetes Federation among adults in the US. Diabetes Care. 2005;28:2745–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ervin, RB. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among adults 20 years of age and over, by sex, age, race and ethnicity, and body mass index: United States, 2003–2006. National Heath Statistics Reports. 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr013.pdf. Accessed April 1, 2011

  7. Pew Hispanic Center. Census 2010: 50 million Latinos Hispanics account for more than half of the nation's growth in the past decade. Pew Hispanic Center. 2011. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/140.pdf. Accessed April 1, 2011

  8. Karlamangla AS, Merkin SS, Crimmins EM, Seeman TE. Socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular risk in the United States, 2001–2006. Ann Epidemiol. 2010;20:617–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Gonzalez MA, Rodriguez AF, Calero JR. Relationship between socioeconomic status and ischaemic heart disease in cohort and case–control studies: 1960–1993. Int J Epidemiol. 1998;27:350–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kaplan GA, Keil JE. Socioeconomic factors and cardiovascular disease: a review of the literature. Circulation. 1993;88:1973–98.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gallo, LC, Fortmann, AL, Roesch, SC, Barret-Connor, E, Elder, JP, Espinosa de los Monteros, K, et al. Socioeconomic status, psychosocial resources and risk, and cardiometabolic risk in Mexican-American women. Health Psychol. 2011; doi:10.1037/a0025689.

  12. Gallo LC, Matthews KA. Understanding the association between socioeconomic status and physical health: do negative emotions play a role? Psychol Bull. 2003;129:10–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gallo LC, de los Monteros KE, Shivpuri S. Socioeconomic status and health: what is the role of reserve capacity? Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2009;18:269–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Adler NE, Rehkopf DH. U.S. disparities in health: descriptions, causes, and mechanisms. Annu Rev Publ Health. 2008;29:235–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Adler NE, Ostrove JM. Socioeconomic status and health: what we know and what we don't. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1999;896:3–15.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Feinstein JS. The relationship between socioeconomic status and health: a review of the literature. Milbank Q. 1993;71:279–322.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Seeman TE, Crimmins E, Huang MH, Singer B, Bucur A, Gruenewald T, et al. Cumulative biological risk and socio-economic differences in mortality: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Soc Sci Med. 2004;58:1985–97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Chichlowska KL, Rose KM, Diez-Roux AV, Golden SH, McNeill AM, Heiss G. Life course socioeconomic conditions and metabolic syndrome in adults: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Ann Epidemiol. 2009;19:875–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Seeman T, Merkin SS, Crimmins E, Koretz B, Charette S, Karlamangla A. Education, income and ethnic differences in cumulative biological risk profiles in a national sample of US adults: NHANES III (1988–1994). Soc Sci Med. 2008;66:72–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Karlamangla AS, Singer BH, Williams DR, Schwartz JE, Matthews KA, Kiefe CI, et al. Impact of socioeconomic status on longitudinal accumulation of cardiovascular risk in young adults: the CARDIA Study (USA). Soc Sci Med. 2005;60:999–1015.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Matthews KA, Gallo LC, Taylor SE. Are psychosocial factors mediators of socioeconomic status and health connections? A progress report and blueprint for the future. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010;1186:146–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Gallo LC, Penedo FJ, de los Monteros KE, Arguelles W. Resiliency in the face of disadvantage: do Hispanic cultural characteristics protect health outcomes? J Pers. 2009;77:1707–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Cuellar I, Arnold B, Gonzalez G. Cognitive referents of acculturation: assessment of cultural constructs in Mexican Americans. J Community Psychol. 1995;23:339–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Madsen W. The Mexican-Americans of South Texas. 2nd ed. NewYork: Holt, Rinehart, Winston; 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ross CE, Mirowsky J, Cockerham WC. Social class, Mexican culture, and fatalism: their effects on psychological distress. Am J Community Psychol. 1983;11:383–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Abraido-Lanza AE, Viladrich A, Florez KR, Cespedes A, Aguirre AN, De La Cruz AA. Commentary: fatalismo reconsidered: a cautionary note for health-related research and practice with Latino populations. Ethn Dis. 2007;17:153–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Espinosa de Los Monteros, K, Gallo, LC. The relevance of fatalism in the study of Latinas' cancer screening behavior: a systematic review of the literature. Int J Behav Med. 2010; doi:10.1007/s12529-010-9119-4.

  28. Freeman H. Cancer and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. CA Cancer J Clin. 1989;39:266–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Powe DP, Johnson A. Fatalism as a barrier to cancer screening among African–Americans: philosophical perspectives. J Relig Health. 1995;34:119–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Straughan PT, Seow A. Fatalism reconceptualized: a concept to predict health screening behavior. J Gender Cult Health. 1998;3:85–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Powe BD, Finnie R. Cancer fatalism: the state of the science. Cancer Nurs. 2003;26:454–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Niederdeppe J, Levy AG. Fatalistic beliefs about cancer prevention and three prevention behaviors. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007;16:998–1003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Kalichman SC, Seth C, Kelly JA, Morgan M, Rompa D. Fatalism, current life satisfaction, and risk for HIV infection among gay and bisexual men. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1997;65:542–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Egede LE, Bonadonna RJ. Diabetes self-management in African Americans: an exploration of the role of fatalism. Diabetes Educ. 2003;29:105–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Egede LE, Ellis C. Development and psychometric properties of the 12-item diabetes fatalism scale. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25:61–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Davison CF, Frankel SF, Smith GD. The limits of lifestyle: re-assessing ‘fatalism’ in the popular culture of illness prevention. Soc Sci Med. 1992;34:675–85.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Matthews KA, Gallo LC. Psychological perspectives on pathways linking socioeconomic status and physical health. Ann Rev Psychol. 2011;62:501–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Arredondo EM. Evaluating a stage model in predicting Latinas' cervical cancer screening practices: the role of psychosocial and cultural predictors. Diss Abstr Int. 2004;64:6314. UMI No. AAT 3114958.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Grundy SM. Metabolic syndrome scientific statement by the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005;25:2243–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Crimmins E. Socioeconomic differentials in mortality and health at the older ages. Genus. 2005;61:163–76.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Merkin SS, Basurto-Davila R, Karlamangla A, Bird CE, Lurie N, Escarce J, et al. Neighborhoods and cumulative biological risk profiles by race/ethnicity in a national sample of U.S. adults: NHANES III. Ann Epidemiol. 2009;19:194–201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Preacher KJ, Hayes AF. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav Res Methods. 2008;40:879–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Karla Espinosa de los Monteros

    Present address: TriCity Health Care, Behavioral Health Department, 39500 Liberty St., Fremont, CA, 94538, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Karla Espinosa de los Monteros & Linda C. Gallo

  2. Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, San Diego State University, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 115, San Diego, CA, 92123, USA

    Karla Espinosa de los Monteros

Authors
  1. Karla Espinosa de los Monteros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Linda C. Gallo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karla Espinosa de los Monteros.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Espinosa de los Monteros, K., Gallo, L.C. Fatalism and Cardio-Metabolic Dysfunction in Mexican–American Women. Int.J. Behav. Med. 20, 487–494 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9256-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9256-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation