TY - JOUR
T1 - A cross-cultural approach to the study of the folk illness nervios
AU - Baer, Roberta D.
AU - Weller, Susan C.
AU - De Alba Garcia, Javier Garcia
AU - Glazer, Mark
AU - Trotter, Robert
AU - Pachter, Lee
AU - Klein, Robert E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was funded by the National Science Foundation grants BNS-9204555, SBR-9727322, and BC-0108232 to S. Weller, and SBR-9807373 and BCS-0108228 to R. Baer.
PY - 2003/9
Y1 - 2003/9
N2 - To systematically study and document regional variations in descriptions of nervios, we undertook a multisite comparative study of the illness among Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Guatemalans. We also conducted a parallel study on susto (Weller et al. 2002, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 26(4): 449-472), which allows for a systematic comparison of these illnesses across sites. The focus of this paper is inter- and intracultural variations in descriptions in four Latino populations of the causes, symptoms, and treatments of nervios, as well as similarities and differences between nervios and susto in these same communities. We found agreement among all four samples on a core description of nervios, as well as some overlap in aspects of nervios and susto. However, nervios is a much broader illness, related more to continual stresses. In contrast, susto seems to be related to a single stressful event.
AB - To systematically study and document regional variations in descriptions of nervios, we undertook a multisite comparative study of the illness among Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Guatemalans. We also conducted a parallel study on susto (Weller et al. 2002, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 26(4): 449-472), which allows for a systematic comparison of these illnesses across sites. The focus of this paper is inter- and intracultural variations in descriptions in four Latino populations of the causes, symptoms, and treatments of nervios, as well as similarities and differences between nervios and susto in these same communities. We found agreement among all four samples on a core description of nervios, as well as some overlap in aspects of nervios and susto. However, nervios is a much broader illness, related more to continual stresses. In contrast, susto seems to be related to a single stressful event.
KW - Latino folk illnesses
KW - Nervios
KW - Susto
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3242761496&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=3242761496&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/A:1025351231862
DO - 10.1023/A:1025351231862
M3 - Article
C2 - 14510097
AN - SCOPUS:3242761496
SN - 0165-005X
VL - 27
SP - 315
EP - 337
JO - Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry
JF - Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry
IS - 3
ER -