Fortaleza Mexicana: Families Confronting Violence in Rural Mexico
Mexico is the second most populated country in Latin America, with over 12.7 million rural and Indigenous people (World Population Review, 2019). However, little research examines the experiences of Mexican rural families.
This mixed-methods study, Fortaleza Mexicana, explored family experiences with violence in a low-income rural Mexican community. It included 200 parent–adolescent dyads who completed surveys and 32 semi-structured interviews.
Study Goals
• Explore Mexican parents’ educational beliefs, aspirations, and expectations for their adolescents.
• Assess mental health outcomes for parents and teens (perceived stress, depression, PTSD symptoms).
• Examine family experiences with violence exposure, coping, and communication.
• Identify barriers and facilitators to mental health service use.
Fortaleza Mexicana Publications
Davila, S. A., Adame Montelongo, E. S., Labrousse, D., & Medrano, A. S. (2025). “Uno no puede solucionarlo por sí mismo”: Sociocultural influences on mental health and help-seeking attitudes among rural Mexican adults. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. DOI: 10.1177/00220221251387702 🔗
Leonard, A. F., Estrada, Y., Jakubowski, K., & Medrano, A. S. (2025). Two fronts of trauma: The differential effects of intimate partner violence and community violence on PTSD in rural Mexico. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. DOI: 10.1177/08862605251375422 🔗
Davila, S. A., Martinez, A., & Medrano, A. S. (2025). Navigating familial and economic stressors: Examining resilience and cohesion as protective factors for rural Mexican adolescents. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000754 🔗
Medrano, A. S., Davila, S. A., Labrousse, D., Adame Montelongo, E. S., & Williams, E.-D. G. (2025). Disentangling machismo and caballerismo: Mental health help-seeking in rural Mexico. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 49(3), 267–277. DOI: 10.1037/rmh0000291 🔗
Mora, A. S., Gutiérrez, L. M., & Ceballo, R. (2024). The role of parent–adolescent communication among youth exposed to neighborhood violence in rural Mexico. Families in Society, 1–18. DOI: 10.1177/10443894231222942 🔗 • Awarded 2024 Best Quantitative Paper
Research Team
Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Andrea Medrano, University of Pittsburgh.