Acculturation,Gender, Depression,and Cigarette Smoking Among U.S. Hispanic Youth: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination

Hispanic youth are at risk for experiencing depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes, and risk for depressive symptoms and cigarette use increase as Hispanic youth acculturate to U.S. culture. The mechanism by which acculturation leads to symptoms of depression and cigarette smoking is not well understood. The present study examined whether perceived discrimination explained the associations of acculturation with depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking among 1,124 Hispanic youth (54% female). Youth in Southern California completed surveys in 9th–11th grade. Separate analyses by gender showed that perceived discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms for girls only. There was also evidence that discrimination explained the relationship between acculturation and cigarette smoking among girls, but the effect was only marginally significant. Acculturation was associated with depressive symptoms and smoking among girls only. Perceived discrimination predicted depressive symptoms in both genders, and discrimination was positively associated with cigarette smoking for girls but not boys. These results support the notion that, although Hispanic boys and girls experience acculturation and discrimination, their mental health and smoking behaviors are differentially affected by these experiences. Moreover, the results indicate that acculturation, gender, and discrimination are important factors to consider when addressing Hispanic youth’s mental health and substance use behaviors.     

Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in the E.U.: Delivering on an Agenda?

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of anew policy style within the E.U., characterized by voluntary policy transfer between member states and soft policy instruments including exchange of best practice, targets, benchmarking and national league tables. This article examines how these methods have been used by gender mainstreaming advocates and evaluates the impact of this strategy to-date upon E.U. policy-making procedures and outputs. It is argued that mainstreaming has provided new opportunities for feminists to influence the E.U. policy agenda, but that the impact of mainstreaming varies between sectors and member states. The concluding section considers the implications of E.U. mainstreaming from the perspective of the European Women's Lobby(E.W.L.). This discussion highlights the potential opportunities and risks for feminists of mainstreaming. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in the E.U.: Delivering on an Agenda?

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of anew policy style within the E.U., characterized by voluntary policy transfer between member states and soft policy instruments including exchange of best practice, targets, benchmarking and national league tables. This article examines how these methods have been used by gender mainstreaming advocates and evaluates the impact of this strategy to-date upon E.U. policy-making procedures and outputs. It is argued that mainstreaming has provided new opportunities for feminists to influence the E.U. policy agenda, but that the impact of mainstreaming varies between sectors and member states. The concluding section considers the implications of E.U. mainstreaming from the perspective of the European Women's Lobby(E.W.L.). This discussion highlights the potential opportunities and risks for feminists of mainstreaming.