Effects of Language and Related Variables on the Expression of Psychopathology in Mexican American Psychiatric Patients

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Abstract
Thirty-two Mexican American patients at the Bilingual/Bicultural Unit at the San Antonio State Hospital participated in a study that investigated the effect of interview language on the expression of psychopathology and the relationship of this effect to the variables of verbal fluency, acculturation, and self-disclosure. The patients were interviewed in separate Spanish- and English-language interviews that were videotaped. The videotaped interviews were then independently rated by bicultural/bilingual mental health professionals who used the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale to determine the extent of psychopathology expressed by the patients during each interview. The patients were found to significantly express more symptomatology indicative of psychopathology during the Spanish interview. In addition, verbal fluency, acculturation, and self-disclosure were found to be significant multiple predictors of the difference in expressed psychopathology in the two interviews. Under different forms of analysis, verbal fluency and acculturation were also found to be unique predictors of this difference.

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