Coping in the barrio: case studies of Mexican-American families.

This paper reports preliminary finds of a study of coping abilities of Mexican-American families. The purpose of the study was to identify variables related to styles of behavior that can be characterized as adaptive. A complex of factors differentiated families who were judged to be dealing effectively with their environment ("copers") from those who were not ("noncopers"). The factors included the health status of the children, various child-rearing attitudes and practices, and patterns of decision making as they related to a more general ability of parents to conceptualize and organize time.