Simpatia and Negative Interpersonal Emotions in Continuity of Health Care

<p>Past research has demonstrated that continuity of care has positive outcomes for patients. Continuous care has been shown to have positive outcomes for the patient, including increased patient satisfaction, decreased hospitalizations, decreased emergency department visits, and improved receipt of preventive services. Guided by Betancourt’s Integrative Model for the Study of Culture, Psychological Processes, and Health Behaviors, the aim of this research was to examine the role of cultural scripts and mistreatment related negative interpersonal emotions on continuity of care among Latin American (Latino) and Non-Latino White (Anglo) women. Specifically, this study examined the effect of simpatía, a cultural script that is common among Latinos that stresses interpersonal harmony and interaction-related personal characteristics (e.g. being likeable, agreeable, and easy going) on negative emotions associated with healthcare mistreatment, and their combined effects on continuity of care. As hypothesized, mistreatment-related negative emotions negatively impacted continuity of care for both Latino and Anglo women. In addition, consistent with the cultural script, the study found that for Latino women simpatía was negatively associated with reported mistreatment related emotions, which was not the case for Anglo women.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Mendez, Andres Gilberto

Contributors dc:contributor

• Betancourt, Hector
• Chavez, David V.
• Flynn, Patricia M.
• Vermeersch, David

• Clinical Psychology
• Medicine and Health Sciences
• Psychology
• Continuity of Patient Care; Attitude of Health Personnel; Health Behavior; Professional-Patient Relations; Process Assessment (Health Care)
• Latin American Women
• Latino Women
• Non-Latino Women
• Anglo Women
• Simpatia
• Cultural Script
• Healthcare Mistreatment

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/199

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1201