Major and Classification
Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor
Dave Lavond, Ph.D.
Department
Dornsife: Psychology
McNair Project
“Understanding Perceptions of Mental Illness: Tailoring Questionnaire to Latino Community”
Project Abstract
A 43-item bilingual adult questionnaire was developed in order to explore the opinions and ideas about mental illness of Latino adults who attend re- ligious services in Los Angeles. The questionnaire includes constructs assessing (1) demographic information; (2) acculturation (SAHS); (3) stigma; (4) attitudes; (5) religiosity (BMMRS); and (6) ethnic Identity (MEIM). Translated measures used in the Spanish questionnaire were edited to be culturally appropriate to the Latino population in Los Angeles. Scale psychometric values for the questionnaire were assessed and checked for internal validity. Some preliminary findings are as follows: from a pilot test of four subjects, the reliability of the following scales were acculturation (.84), stigma (.55), attitudes (.37), ethnic identity (.95).