Creando Posibilidades: A Cognitive Model of Risk Behaviors in Mexican American Women.

A prevailing theory within eating disorder literature is that the process of acculturation and the strength of ethnic identity are key determinants of disordered eating and related health risk behaviors for Latinas. In this paper, we describe a longitudinal study to test the theoretical proposition that the configuration of personal identities buffers the effects of acculturation on a triad of modifiable risk behaviors (disordered eating, alcohol use and tobacco use) in college-enrolled Mexican American (MA) women. Using the self-schema model to conceptualize personal identities, we review the causal pathways linking self-schema properties to risk behaviors and describe the longitudinal design and measures used to test the hypothesized relationships. We discuss the causal role of the self-concept in the development of the risk behavior patterns among young Latinas, and the association between socio-cultural factors and properties of the self-concept. We describe our longitudinal study design that enables us to examine the pattern of association among the risk behaviors, and the appropriateness of measures that operationalize the theoretical concepts in the study.