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Lifetime prevalence of eight major DSM-III psychiatric disorders was examined as a function of acculturation level and country of birth (Mexico or the U.S.) in a large household sample of Los Angeles adults of Mexican ethnicity. Higher acculturation was associated with higher lifetime rates of phobia, alcohol abuse or dependence, and drug abuse or dependence. There was no evidence of a curvilinear relationship of acculturation to disorder which would be predicted if bicultural Mexican Americans were at lower risk for disorder than monocultural Mexican Americans. Consistent with the acculturation findings, native-born Mexican Americans, who tended to have high levels of acculturation, had higher lifetime prevalence of disorders (phobia, alcohol abuse or dependence, drug abuse or dependence, as well as major depression and dysthymia) than immigrant Mexican Americans. After controlling for country of birth, only drug abuse or dependence among immigrants was affected by acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data collected from the Los Angeles site of the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program were used to examine the utilization of health services in a community population. Mexican-Americans, especially the less acculturated, had significantly lower rates of use of outpatient, but not inpatient, care than non-Hispanic whites. Differences were greater for mental than physical health care. Less acculturated Mexican-Americans made very little use of either mental health specialists or the human services sector (e.g., religious leaders). Among those with a recent psychiatric disorder, non-Hispanic whites were seven times more likely to use outpatient mental health services than the less acculturated Mexican-Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]