Behavioral functioning among Mexican-origin children: does parental legal status matter?

Immigrant Parent Legal Status and Children's Health in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth)

We assess how immigrant parent legal status shapes children's physical and mental health. Using the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth-a multi-site dataset-we evaluated mean differences in multiple physical and mental health indicators and parents' and children's stress and resilience by parents' (primarily mothers') legal status (N = 1177). We estimated regression models of two overall child health outcomes-allostatic load and any internalized disorder. Average allostatic load was 28% higher (0.36 standard deviations) and average prevalence of any internalizing disorder was 16% points greater for children of foreign-born unauthorized versus US-born parents. Higher levels of socioeconomic and acculturative stress contributed to children of foreign-born unauthorized parents' heightened health risk, while resilience factors-parental health and familial support-protected their health. Children with unauthorized immigrant parents experience both negative physical and mental health outcomes that can have potential long-term costs.

Anxious Activists? Examining Immigration Policy Threat, Political Engagement, and Anxiety among College Students with Different Self/Parental Immigration Statuses

Restrictive immigration policies harm the mental health of undocumented immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members. As a sociopolitical stressor, threat to family due to immigration policy can heighten anxiety, yet it is unclear whether political engagement helps immigrant-origin students to cope. We used a cross-sectional survey of college students from immigrant families (N = 2,511) to investigate whether anxiety symptomatology was associated with perceived threat to family and if political engagement moderated this relationship. We stratified analyses by self/parental immigration statuses-undocumented students, U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents-to examine family members' legal vulnerability. Family threat was significantly associated with anxiety; higher levels of political engagement reduced the strength of this relationship. However, this moderation effect was significant only for U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents. These findings emphasize the importance of the family immigration context in shaping individuals' mental health outcomes.

Selective mutism in immigrant families: An ecocultural perspective

Although the diagnosis of selective mutism (SM) is more prevalent among immigrant children, the link between the disorder and an immigration background has been elusive. Guided by ecocultural models of development, the current study aimed to construct a theory-based description of SM while considering individual, family, and contextual risk factors. Participants were 78 children with SM (38.4% with an immigration background), and 247 typically developed children (18.2% with an immigration background). Consistent with previous studies, our results suggest that anxiety was the most important predictor of SM symptoms, above and beyond immigration background. Immigration, especially if coupled with bilingual status and low family income, predicted increased levels of SM symptoms. Identifying multi-level predictors of SM may help researchers and clinicians to improve early identification and treatment of SM in culturally and linguistically diverse children.

Validation of the Family Fear of Deportation Scale for youth

Objective

This study reports on the psychometric properties of a new instrument to assess family fear of deportation in two versions (binary and polytomous response options).

Background

The impact of fear of deportation extends beyond foreign-born youth to U.S. citizen children in families with unauthorized members, and negatively affects their academic achievement and their physical, mental, and behavioral health. A measure assessing levels of fear of deportation among youth is lacking.

Methods

Participants were first- and second-generation Latino immigrant youth (N = 145 in Study 1 and N = 107 in Study 2). Item response theory (IRT), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analysis, and reliability tests were used to assess the scale's psychometric properties.

Results

The results supported a five-item binary version and a six-item polytomous version of the scale. Both demonstrated excellent model fit, good reliability, and criterion validity.

Conclusions

The six-item polytomous version is slightly more parsimonious than the five-item binary version scale, has better internal consistency, and captures a modestly wider range of the construct. The binary version may be preferable for immigrant youth who prefer straightforward response options.

Implications

Researchers and practitioners can use either version of the Family Fear of Deportation Scale with confidence to assess deportation-related fear among Latino immigrant youth.

Mothers' Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Depression: Associations with Children's Behavioral Functioning

Despite robust bodies of literature documenting that both mothers' intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and mothers' mental health are consequential for children's behavioral functioning, the conjunction of these two risk factors is less understood. Findings are mixed as to whether mental health mediates the effect of IPV on behavioral functioning. Such mixed findings may result from literature primarily examining samples selected from clinical, shelter, or intervention settings. Furthermore, few studies have expanded the literature to assess moderation, rather than mediation, effects. While mediation analysis tests whether behavioral problems result from mothers' IPV because IPV increases depression, moderation analysis instead tests whether mother's IPV victimization has a different impact for their children based on whether or not the mother is also experiencing depression. The current study uses a representative survey of neighborhoods and households in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (n = 1,913), to examine the combined effects of mothers' IPV victimization and depression on children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The findings suggest that mothers' IPV victimization and depression have direct, positive effects on both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Additionally, there is a moderation effect such that children of mothers who suffer from both IPV victimization and depression have higher levels of internalizing behavior problems. These results emphasize the importance of addressing the mental health of IPV victims, not only for the benefit of the direct victim, but also for the benefit of her children.

Immigrant Health Inequities: Exposing Diversions and White Supremacy

Diversions occur when research disregards the inequality-generating actions of advantaged groups and instead focuses attention on the actions and behaviors of disadvantaged groups. We incorporate important insights from COVID-19 to illustrate historical and contemporary examples of diversions. This paper highlights US immigrant health inequities—a burgeoning subfield within the broader health inequalities canon—to explore: (1) if and how diversions appear in immigrant health studies; (2) how often white supremacy and intersectionality are explicitly named in grants, publicly available datasets, and published research. The data derive from: NIH R01 grants (17), publicly available datasets that focus on immigrant health (7), and research published in three health journals (14). Using a qualitative content analysis approach, we analyzed these data as evidence concerning the knowledge production cycle, and investigate whether: (a) the role of advantaged groups in generating inequalities is explicitly mentioned; (b) disadvantaged groups are asked about discriminatory actions perpetuated by advantaged groups; (c) health inequalities are placed on the conditions of disadvantaged groups; (d) if white supremacy and intersectionality are explicitly mentioned in grants, publicly available datasets, and research articles. The findings demonstrate the prevalence of diversions in immigrant health research, given an overemphasis on health behaviors and cultural explanations towards explaining immigrant health inequities. There was no mention of white supremacy across the knowledge production cycle. Intersectionality was mentioned once in a research article. We argue that understanding white supremacy’s role in the knowledge production cycle illuminates how diversions occur and prevail. We provide suggestions on moving away from diversionary research, toward adopting an intersectional approach of the study of immigrant health inequities.

An ecological expansion of the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) framework to include threat and deprivation associated with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices: An examination of the Latinx immigrant experience

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework has contributed to advances in developmental science by examining the interdependent and cumulative nature of adverse childhood environmental exposures on life trajectories. Missing from the ACEs framework, however, is the role of pervasive and systematic oppression that afflicts certain racialized groups and that leads to persistent threat and deprivation. In the case of children from immigrant parents, the consequence of a limited ACEs framework is that clinicians and researchers fail to address the psychological violence inflicted on children from increasingly restrictive immigration policies, ramped up immigration enforcement, and national anti-immigration rhetoric. Drawing on the literature with Latinx children, the objective of this conceptual article is to integrate the ecological model with the dimensional model of childhood adversity and psychopathology to highlight how direct experience of detention and deportation, threat of detention and deportation, and exposure to systemic marginalization and deprivation are adverse experiences for many Latinx children in immigrant families. This article highlights that to reduce bias and improve developmental science and practice with immigrants and with U.S.-born children of immigrants, there must be an inclusion of immigration-related threat and deprivation into the ACEs framework. We conclude with a practical and ethical discussion of screening and assessing ACEs in clinical and research settings, using an expanded ecological framework that includes immigration-related threat and deprivation.

Recent immigration actions and news and the adjustment of U.S. Latino/a adolescents

OBJECTIVES

This research describes how family immigrant statuses are related to Latino/a adolescents' responses to recent immigration actions and news and, in turn, adolescent adjustment.

METHOD

Study 1 included a school-based sample of 11- to 15-year-olds in suburban Atlanta, Georgia (N = 547); Study 2 included a convenience sample of 15- to 18-year-olds in the Washington, DC area (N = 340). Family immigrant status was defined by adolescents' immigrant generation status in Study 1 and by parent residency status in Study 2. In both studies, a 14-item measure assessed responses to recent immigration actions and news, including psychological worries and behavioral withdrawal. Dependent variables included internalizing and externalizing symptoms, suicidal ideation, e-cigarette use, and alcohol use (Study 1), and alcohol use and depressive symptoms (Study 2).

RESULTS

Psychological worry and behavioral withdrawal responses to immigration actions and news were significantly greater among adolescents with foreign-born, compared to U.S.-born, parents (Study 1), and among adolescents with undocumented, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or permanent resident parents, as compared to citizen parents (Study 2). Results from tests of indirect effects indicated that these worries and behavioral withdrawal responses were, in turn, associated with higher levels of adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms, a higher odds of substance use and suicidal ideation (Study 1), and higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms (Study 2).

CONCLUSIONS

As 1-quarter of the U.S. child population is Latino/a, there is a need to address immigration threats jeopardizing the adjustment of Latino/a teenagers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Neighborhood Environment and Child Health in Immigrant Families: Using Nationally Representative Individual, Family, and Community Datasets

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine neighborhood effects on the physical and socioemotional health of children from immigrant families, after controlling for parents' demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and health care issues.

DESIGN

Pooled cross-sectional data were merged with community profiles.

SETTING

The United States in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

PARTICIPANTS

10,399 children from immigrant families in the 2013-2015 National Health Interview Surveys and the U.S. Census Data.

MEASURES

Both objective and subjective measures of neighborhood environments were assessed, including neighborhood physical disorder, socioeconomic status, demographic composition, community resources, and social trust.

ANALYSIS

Descriptive statistics, logistic regression models.

RESULTS

About half of the sampled children were male (51%); 68% were white; 56% were of Hispanic; and 34% were school-aged. Three neighborhood factors-neighborhood trust, area-level poverty rate, and the presence of primary care physician-were identified as significant predictors for child health outcomes. Foreign-born population, green space, and food desert were not significant. At the individual level, parents' racial and ethnic minority status, non-marital status, and healthcare issues were found to be risk factors. Families' financial resources and parental education were identified as protective factors of socioemotional health.

CONCLUSION

Intervention approaches to build on neighborhood trust may have broad potential to improve child outcomes. Programs focusing on immigrant families with children in high poverty neighborhoods should be a high priority.

Who is Taking Care of Central American Immigrant Youth? Preliminary Data on Caregiving Arrangements and Emotional-Behavioral Symptoms Post-Migration

Migrant youth are at increased risk for mental health problems. Given increases in families migrating to the U.S. and family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border, understanding migrant youth home environments and impacts of family disruption are growing concerns. This study assessed caregiver arrangements and reports of youth emotional and behavioral symptoms from recently immigrated adolescents (N = 111) and respective caregivers (n = 64). 47.7% of youth indicated living with their mother, father, or both; 24.3% another relative, 2.7% a non-relative, and 25.2% reported no caregiver. 25% indicated caretaking responsibilities of their own. Caregiving arrangements were related to emotional and behavioral symptoms. Caregiver documentation status was related to caregiver-reported conduct problems, prosocial behavior, and total symptoms. The migration process is disruptive for youth and home environments. Many youth experience disrupted caregiving post-migration and caregiver features are significant to youth emotional and behavioral symptoms-which were elevated in this sample. The study provides novel insight into effects of family disruption on migrant youth post-migration.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Household Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Nationally Representative Study

Previous research has demonstrated that the burden of household food insecurity is disproportionately high among racial/ethnic minority groups, yet no peer-reviewed studies have systematically examined racial/ethnic disparities in household food insecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study on household food insecurity during COVID-19 used data from a nationally representative sample of US households through the 2020 Household Pulse Survey (HPS) (including all 50 states and the District of Columbia, n = 74,413 households). Six generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were estimated, and the results indicated that households headed by Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, or other racial/ethnic minorities were not significantly more food insecure than White households during the pandemic. However, among food-insecure households, Black households were more likely to report that they could not afford to buy more food; Asian and Hispanic households were more likely to be afraid to go out to buy food; Asian households were more likely to face transportation issues when purchasing food; while White households were more likely to report that stores did not have the food they wanted. Moreover, racial/ethnic minorities were significantly less confident about their household food security for the next 4 weeks than Whites. The coronavirus pandemic crisis has exposed and exacerbated the food injustice in American society. Policymakers and local officials should take concerted actions to improve the capacity of food supply and ensure food equality across all racial/ethnic groups.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Household Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Nationally Representative Study

Previous research has demonstrated that the burden of household food insecurity is disproportionately high among racial/ethnic minority groups, yet no peer-reviewed studies have systematically examined racial/ethnic disparities in household food insecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study on household food insecurity during COVID-19 used data from a nationally representative sample of US households through the 2020 Household Pulse Survey (HPS) (including all 50 states and the District of Columbia, n = 74,413 households). Six generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were estimated, and the results indicated that households headed by Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, or other racial/ethnic minorities were not significantly more food insecure than White households during the pandemic. However, among food-insecure households, Black households were more likely to report that they could not afford to buy more food; Asian and Hispanic households were more likely to be afraid to go out to buy food; Asian households were more likely to face transportation issues when purchasing food; while White households were more likely to report that stores did not have the food they wanted. Moreover, racial/ethnic minorities were significantly less confident about their household food security for the next 4 weeks than Whites. The coronavirus pandemic crisis has exposed and exacerbated the food injustice in American society. Policymakers and local officials should take concerted actions to improve the capacity of food supply and ensure food equality across all racial/ethnic groups.

Risk and Resilience in Minority Youth Populations

This review presents current theory and empirical research that address the interplay between risk and resilience processes among minority youth in the United States. To move the clinical sciences forward in their research and treatment approaches to solving minority–majority health and well-being disparities, ecological, intersectional, and emic (within-group) approaches must be adopted. We discuss the consequences of systematic oppression and marginalization for children in the United States, focusing primarily on research regarding xenophobia, discrimination, and racism. Lastly, we provide examples of recent interventions that take emic approaches to closing minority–majority gaps in developmental outcomes.

Family Matters: Research on Family Ties and Health, 2010-2020

Family ties have wide-ranging consequences for health, for better and for worse. This decade review uses a life course perspective to frame significant advances in research on the effects of family structure and transitions (e.g., marital status), and family dynamics and quality (e.g., emotional support from family members), on health across the life course. Significant advances include the linking of childhood family experiences to health at older ages, identification of biosocial processes that explain how family ties influence health throughout life, research on social contagion showing how family members influence one another's health, and attention to diversity in family and health dynamics, including gender, sexuality, socioeconomic, and racial diversity. Significant innovations in methods include dyadic and family-level analysis and causal inference strategies. The review concludes by identifying directions for future research on families and health, advocating for a "family biography" framework to guide future research, and calling for more research specifically designed to assess policies that affect families and their health from childhood into later life.

The role of parental citizenship status on depression of U.S. citizen children

The purpose of this study was to determine how parental citizenship status played a role in the depression scores of Hispanic/Latinx children in the sample. Eight-hundred thirty-five participants from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) were included in this study. The Center of Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to assess depression scores among this sample of Hispanic/Latinx children. Participants were separated into the following categories: Both parents U.S. citizens, one parent U.S. citizen, neither parent U.S. citizen. Analysis of variance showed that there is a significant relationship between depression and parental citizenship status. The depression scores of individuals who had one parent who is a U.S. citizen was significantly higher than those who had both parents who are U.S. citizens. Ordinary least of squares regression revealed that having one parent who is a U.S. citizen was a significant predictor of depression outcomes.

Hispanic Mothers' Experiences with School-Based Emotional Health Curriculum and Perspectives of Their Own Mental Health Needs

An Emotional Health Curriculum (EHC) was developed to promote positive mental health in primarily Hispanic elementary school-aged children. In order to further expand the EHC, the mothers' experiences with the curriculum were examined. Eighteen mothers participated in two focus groups. Mothers reported that they valued this curriculum as a preventive program. Importantly, all mothers wished to extend their involvement to not only assisting their child in completing the curriculum homework but also attending a proposed parenting program. This study provides preliminary evidence that mothers embraced the EHC as an accessible community mental health service for their children and sought greater involvement.

Association of Perceived Immigration Policy Vulnerability With Mental and Physical Health Among US-Born Latino Adolescents in California

IMPORTANCE

Current US immigration policy targets immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries; anti-immigration rhetoric has possible implications for the US-born children of immigrant parents.

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether concerns about immigration policy are associated with worse mental and physical health among US citizen children of Latino immigrants.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This study of cohort data from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), a long-term study of Mexican farmworker families in the Salinas Valley region of California, included a sample of US-born adolescents (n = 397) with at least 1 immigrant parent. These adolescents underwent a health assessment before the 2016 presidential election (at age 14 years) and in the first year after the election (at age 16 years). Data were analyzed from March 23, 2018, to February 14, 2019.

EXPOSURES

Adolescents aged 16 years self-reported their concern about immigration policy using 2 subscales (Threat to Family and Children's Vulnerability) of the Perceived Immigration Policy Effects Scale (PIPES) instrument.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Resting systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure; body mass index; maternal- and self-reported depression and anxiety problems (using Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 2nd edition); self-reported sleep quality (using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]); and maternal rating of child's overall health. All measures except sleep quality were assessed at both the aged-14-years and aged-16-years visits. Health outcomes at age 16 years and the change in outcomes between ages 14 and 16 years were examined among youth participants who reported low or moderate PIPES scores vs high PIPES scores.

RESULTS

In the sample of 397 US-born Latino adolescents (207 [52.1%] female) and primarily Mexican American individuals, nearly half of the youth participants worried at least sometimes about the personal consequences of the US immigration policy (n = 178 [44.8%]), family separation because of deportation (177 [44.6%]), and being reported to the immigration office (164 [41.3%]). Those with high compared with low or moderate PIPES scores had higher self-reported mean anxiety T scores (5.43; 95% CI, 2.64-8.23), higher maternally reported anxiety T scores (2.98; 95% CI, 0.53-5.44), and worse PSQI scores (0.98; 95% CI, 0.36-1.59). Youth participants with high PIPES scores reported statistically significantly increased levels of anxiety over the 2 visits (adjusted mean difference-in-differences, 2.91; 95% CI, 0.20-5.61) and not significantly increased levels of depression (adjusted mean difference-in-differences, 2.63; 95% CI, -0.28 to 5.54).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Fear and worry about the personal consequences of current US immigration policy and rhetoric appear to be associated with higher anxiety levels, sleep problems, and blood pressure changes among US-born Latino adolescents; anxiety significantly increased after the 2016 presidential election.

Do Co-ethnic concentrated neighborhoods protect children with undocumented parents? Focusing on child behavioral functioning

Undocumented immigrants concentrate in ethnic enclaves, but little is known about the implications of living in such neighborhoods for children of undocumented immigrants. Using data on Mexican-origin children from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey and the decennial census, this paper examines the influence of co-ethnic concentrated neighborhoods on children's behavioral functioning, and the extent to which parental nativity and documentation status moderate the neighborhood effects. Multilevel linear regression models show that the proportion of co-ethnics in the neighborhood apparently has no influence on Mexican-origin children. However, cross-level interactions reveal that the neighborhood context has differential effects by parental documentation status. The higher the percentage of co-ethnics in the neighborhood, the lower (better) the externalizing scores for children of undocumented immigrants, a pattern not observed for children of US-born or documented parents. The mechanism through which co-ethnic enclaves benefit children of undocumented Mexican immigrants deserves future research.

Latino parents' links to deportees are associated with developmental disorders in their children

AIMS

To examine how Latino parent's personal connection to immigrants is linked to their children's risk of being referred/diagnosed with a developmental disorder.

METHODS

Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey (n = 548), we asked adults about their connections to immigrants. We also asked if their child has been referred/diagnosed with a developmental disorder. We estimated a series of regressions to predict increases in the probability of a child being referred/diagnosed for a developmental disorder.

RESULTS

Respondents who know a deportee are 2.4 times more likely (p = 0.009) to report that their child has been referred or diagnosed with a developmental disorder. Additionally, knowing more deportees, and having a closer family tie with deportees, are all statistically associated with developmental problems.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds to the emerging research on stress and child health, by examining the intersections of immigration policy, mental health, and child development.

Stress and Resilience: Key Correlates of Mental Health and Substance Use in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth

This study examined associations of immigrant generation, acculturation, and sources of stress and resilience with four outcomes-depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, alcohol susceptibility, and smoking susceptibility. We used data from 1466 youth (ages 8-16) enrolled in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth), a probability sample of Hispanic/Latino youth living in Chicago (IL), Miami (FL), Bronx (NY), and San Diego (CA). We found no evidence of an immigrant paradox. Greater children's acculturative stress was associated with depression/anxiety symptoms; greater parent's acculturative stress was associated with smoking susceptibility. Family functioning and children's ethnic identity were associated with fewer depression/anxiety symptoms and lower alcohol/smoking susceptibility. Although acculturation-related stressors increase youths' risks for poor mental health and substance use, the development of positive ethnic identities and close, well-functioning family support systems can help protect Latino/Hispanic children from the negative behavioral and health-related consequences of stress.

Policies of Exclusion: Implications for the Health of Immigrants and Their Children

Public policies play a crucial role in shaping how immigrants adapt to life in the United States. Federal, state, and local laws and administrative practices impact immigrants' access to education, health insurance and medical care, cash assistance, food assistance, and other vital services. Additionally, immigration enforcement activities have substantial effects on immigrants' health and participation in public programs, as well as effects on immigrants' families. This review summarizes the growing literature on the consequences of public policies for immigrants' health. Some policies are inclusive and promote immigrants' adaptation to the United States, whereas other policies are exclusionary and restrict immigrants' access to public programs as well as educational and economic opportunities. We explore the strategies that researchers have employed to tease out these effects, the methodological challenges of undertaking such studies, their varying impacts on immigrant health, and steps that can be undertaken to improve the health of immigrants and their families.

Emotional and Behavioral Health Needs in Elementary School Students in an Underserved Hispanic Community

High rates of mental health problems in adolescents have been well documented; less is known about elementary school children in disadvantaged communities. We examined emotional and behavioral health needs in 202 third and fourth graders enrolled in a charter school in a largely Hispanic community. The child-reported Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-25 and Teacher's Report Form were used to evaluate mental health needs as perceived by these children and their teachers. The prevalence of teacher-reported depression and child self-reported anxiety was 7.0% and 6.67%, respectively. Living in a single parent household was found to be a specific risk factor in that those children had higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems than children living with both parents. Evidence of higher depression and anxiety identified in this sample compared to national representative data suggests the need for development of culturally sensitive early prevention and intervention in this underserved community.

Mapping the frequency and severity of anxiety behaviors in preschool-aged children

Although anxiety can be early-emerging, impairing, and persistent, behaviors relevant to anxiety mirror typical development in early childhood. To better understand the spectrum of typical to problematic behavior, this study characterizes the range of frequency and severity of separation and social anxiety behaviors and associated impairment in preschool-aged children using a novel daily diary method. Primary caregivers of 291 3-5-year-old children reported the frequency of children's daily separation and social anxiety behaviors and related impairment for 14 days. Frequencies of each separation and social anxiety behavior were computed and item response theory analyses revealed the specific frequencies at which the behavior was considered psychometrically severe/rare. Patterns varied across items; for example, worry that caregiver would not return and shyness with familiar adults had to occur at least 3-4 times over 14 days for the behavior to be considered severe/rare, whereas shyness around peers and new people were not severe at any frequency. In addition, behaviors were associated with impairment. To our knowledge, these data are the first to delineate empirical, dimensional information about the frequency and severity of anxiety behaviors and associated impairment in early childhood. Such data could be useful for clinical practice to enhance empirically-driven assessment of anxiety.

Local-Level Immigration Enforcement and Food Insecurity Risk among Hispanic Immigrant Families with Children: National-Level Evidence

Local-level immigration enforcement generates fear and reduces social service use among Hispanic immigrant families but the health impacts are largely unknown. We examine the consequence of 287(g), the foundational enforcement program, for one critical risk factor of child health-food insecurity. We analyze nationally representative data on households with children from pooled cross-sections of the Current Population Survey Food Supplemental Survey. We identify the influence of 287(g) on food insecurity pre-post-policy accounting for metro-area and year fixed-effects. We find that 287(g) is associated with a 10 percentage point increase in the food insecurity risk of Mexican non-citizen households with children, the group most vulnerable to 287(g). We find no evidence of spillover effects on the broader Hispanic community. Our results suggest that local immigration enforcement policies have unintended consequences. Although 287(g) has ended, other federal-local immigration enforcement partnerships persist, which makes these findings highly policy relevant.

Household fear of deportation in relation to chronic stressors and salivary proinflammatory cytokines in Mexican-origin families post-SB 1070

Sociologists recognize that immigration enforcement policies are forms of institutionalized racism that can produce adverse health effects in both undocumented and documented Latinos and Mexican-origin persons in the United States. Despite this important advancement, little research examines the relationship between fear of immigration enforcement and biobehavioral health in mixed-status Mexican-origin families. This study applies an embodiment of racism approach to examine how household fear of deportation (FOD) is related to differences in salivary proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-8, and TNF α ) in healthy Mexican-origin families with at least one immigrant, living in Phoenix, AZ. Participants were 111 individuals (n=46 adults, 72% female; n=65 children, 49% female) from 30 low-income, mixed-status families. During a home visit, anthropometric measures and saliva were collected from each family member and a household survey was administered. Saliva was assayed for salivary IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-8, and TNF α . Random effects multilevel structural equation models estimated the relationship between household FOD and a salivary proinflammatory cytokine latent variable between families, while controlling for other chronic stressors (economic/occupational, immigration, parental, and family conflict). Household FOD ( β =0.68, p=0.04) and family conflict chronic stress ( β =1.96, p=0.03) were strongly related to elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines between families. These results were consistent in non-mixed and mixed-status families. Future research is needed to characterize what aspects of living with an undocumented family member shape the physical health outcomes of persons with authorized status or US-citizenship.

U.S. Citizen Children of Undocumented Parents: The Link Between State Immigration Policy and the Health of Latino Children

We examine Latino citizen children in mixed-status families and how their physical health status compares to their U.S. citizen, co-ethnic counterparts. We also examine Latino parents' perceptions of state immigration policy and its implications for child health status. Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey (n = 1493), we estimate a series of multivariate ordered logistic regression models with mixed-status family and perceptions of state immigration policy as primary predictors. We find that mixed-status families report worse physical health for their children as compared to their U.S. citizen co-ethnics. We also find that parental perceptions of their states' immigration status further exacerbate health disparities between families. These findings have implications for scholars and policy makers interested in immigrant health, family wellbeing, and health disparities in complex family structures. They contribute to the scholarship on Latino child health and on the erosion of the Latino immigrant health advantage.

Parenting Strain among Mexican-origin Mothers: Differences by Parental Legal Status and Neighborhood

Despite increasing recognition of the critical importance of legal status for understanding the well-being of immigrants and their families, there has been scant research on this topic due to data limitations. Using Wave 1 of the Los Angles Family and Neighborhood Survey (2000-2002) and the 2000 decennial census, we investigate how parenting strain among Mexican-origin mothers varies by legal status and neighborhood context. We find significant differences in parenting strain by nativity and legal status, with undocumented mothers reporting the lowest level. Results from multilevel models with cross-level interactions reveal that the influence of neighborhood immigrant concentration differs by legal status. Percent foreign born in the neighborhood is associated with reduced parenting strain for documented Mexican-origin mothers while it is associated with heightened parenting strain for undocumented Mexican-origin mothers. Findings provide empirical support for the need to recognize legal status distinctions in studies of the well-being of immigrants and their families.

Parental documentation status and academic attitudes and expectations among early adolescent latinos

Many Latino youth are U.S. citizens but live with parents whose immigration status is unauthorized. The association between parental documentation status and early adolescent academic attitudes and expectations is unclear. Using a general population sample of urban 7th grade students who self-identified as Latino in the South Central U.S. (n = 514), we examine the associations between parental documentation status and youth attitudes about the importance of graduating high school and college and expectations of the likelihood of completing high school and attending college. Findings suggest that parent documentation status is not associated with attitudes toward the importance of high school and college among Latino early adolescents, but it is significantly associated with perceptions of the likelihood of achievement. Thus, parent immigration status may be an educational barrier that needs to be addressed early for Latino youth, as efforts in high school may be too late for some students.

Culture's Influence on Stressors, Parental Socialization, and Developmental Processes in the Mental Health of Children of Immigrants

Children of immigrants represent one in four children in the United States and will represent one in three children by 2050. Children of Asian and Latino immigrants together represent the majority of children of immigrants in the United States. Children of immigrants may be immigrants themselves, or they may have been born in the United States to foreign-born parents; their status may be legal or undocumented. We review transcultural and culture-specific factors that influence the various ways in which stressors are experienced; we also discuss the ways in which parental socialization and developmental processes function as risk factors or protective factors in their influence on the mental health of children of immigrants. Children of immigrants with elevated risk for mental health problems are more likely to be undocumented immigrants, refugees, or unaccompanied minors. We describe interventions and policies that show promise for reducing mental health problems among children of immigrants in the United States.

Legal Status, Time in the USA, and the Well-Being of Latinos in Los Angeles

In the USA, undocumented Latino immigrants may have poorer health because of barriers to health care, stressors, and detrimental effects of immigration enforcement. Previous immigrant health research, however, suggests that recently arrived Latino immigrants have better health than US-born Latinos and their health deteriorates over time. Given the current environments that undocumented immigrants face, legal status is a structural factor that likely influences the patterns of immigrant health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the extent to which physical and mental health differed by legal status and duration in the USA for the Latino population in Los Angeles County, California. We conducted analysis of Latino respondents (n = 1396) to the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS) Wave II. We examined self-reported health, depression measured by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form, and blood pressure collected by trained interviewers. Respondents reported their legal status, time in the USA, and other sociodemographic characteristics. Regression models were used to test associations between each outcome and 1) legal status and 2) legal status by duration (≤ 15 and > 15 years) in the USA. Without taking duration into account, we found no significant differences in outcomes between undocumented, documented, or US-born Latinos. Taking duration into account, shorter duration undocumented immigrants had worse self-reported health than the US born. Undocumented immigrants, regardless of duration, had higher blood pressure than documented immigrants who had been in the USA for less time and the same level of blood pressure as the US born. In contrast, shorter duration documented immigrants had lower blood pressure compared to longer duration documented immigrants and US-born counterparts, and marginally lower blood pressure than shorter duration undocumented immigrants. The findings suggest that the "health advantage" generally presumed to exist among immigrants may not affect undocumented immigrants.

Documenting legal status: a systematic review of measurement of undocumented status in health research

Background

Undocumented status is rarely measured in health research, yet it influences the lives and well-being of immigrants. The growing body of research on undocumented status and health shows the need to assess the measurement of this legal status. We discuss the definition of undocumented status, conduct a systematic review of the methodological approaches currently taken to measure undocumented status of immigrants in the USA, and discuss recommendations for advancement of measurement methods.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of 61 studies indexed in PubMed, conducted in the USA, and published from 2004 to 2014. We categorized each of the studies’ data source and type, measurement type, and information for classifying undocumented participants. Studies used self-reported or proxy measures of legal status.

Results

Information to classify undocumented participants included self-reported status, possession of a Social Security number, possession of health insurance or institutional resources, concern about deportation, and participant characteristics. Findings show it is feasible to collect self-reported measures of undocumented status.

Conclusions

We recommend that researchers collect self-reported measures of undocumented status whenever possible and limit the use of proxy measures. Validated and standardized measures are needed for within and across country measurement. Authors should provide methodological information about measurement in publications. Finally, individuals who are undocumented should be included in the development of these methodologies.

Trial registration

This systematic review is not registered.

Charting Directions for Research on Immigrant Children Affected by Undocumented Status

Three groups of children from Mexico and Central America are vulnerable to effects of US immigration policies: 1) foreign-born children who entered the US with undocumented immigrant parents; 2) unaccompanied children who entered the US alone; and 3) U.S.-born citizen children of undocumented immigrant parents. Despite the recent demographic growth of these youth, scholarship on their strengths and challenges is under-theorized and isolated within specific disciplines. Hence, service providers, researchers, and policymakers have insufficient research to inform their efforts to support the children's wellbeing. A group of scholars and service-providers with expertise in immigrant children convened to establish consensus areas and identify gaps in knowledge of undocumented, unaccompanied, and citizen children of undocumented immigrant parents. The primary goal was to establish a research agenda that increases interdisciplinary collaborations, informs clinical practice, and influences policies. This report summarizes key issues and recommendations that emerged from the meeting.

Household fear of deportation in Mexican-origin families: Relation to body mass index percentiles and salivary uric acid

OBJECTIVE

Fear of deportation (FOD) is a prevalent concern among mixed-status families. Yet, our understanding of how FOD shapes human health and development is in its infancy. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we examined the relationship between household FOD, body mass index (BMI) percentiles and salivary uric acid (sUA), a biomarker related to oxidative stress/hypertension/metabolic syndrome, among 111 individuals living in Mexican-origin families.

METHODS

Participants were 65 children (2 months-17 years, 49% female) and 46 adults (20-58 years, 71% female) living in 30 Mexican-origin families with at least one immigrant parent in Phoenix, AZ. We recruited families using cluster probability sampling of 30 randomly selected census tracts with a high proportion of Hispanic/Latino immigrants. The head of household completed a survey containing demographic, FOD, and psychosocial measures. All family members provided saliva (later assayed for sUA) and anthropometric measures. Relationships between household FOD, BMI percentile, and sUA levels were estimated using multilevel models.

RESULTS

Higher levels of household FOD were associated with lower BMI percentiles and lower sUA levels between families, after controlling for social support and socioeconomic proxies.

CONCLUSION

Key features of the social ecology in which mixed-status families are embedded are associated with individual differences in biological processes linked to increased risk for chronic disease.

Stress and Coping: Latino Youth Coming of Age in a New Latino Destination

Previous research has linked stress to adverse mental health outcomes among Latino adolescents living in the United States. The mechanism through which this process operates continues to be explored, especially in regions of the country where Latin American immigrants and their children have only recently begun to migrate. Our study aimed to contextualize the processes of stress and coping among Latino adolescents growing up in an emerging Latino destination in the US-North Carolina (NC). All adolescents in our study were either the first or second generation children of immigrants from Latin American countries including Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. We employed a longitudinal qualitative design, conducting in-depth interviews with 12 parent-adolescent dyads during each adolescent's first year of high school (2006-2007) and four years later (2009-2010). We identified four stress-coping trajectories that varied on the following dimensions: primary sources of stress, buffers countering these stressors, coping approaches and the effects of these processes on adolescents' striving for socioeconomic mobility. Our findings underscore the interplay between family, school, and community environments within an emerging Latino destination.

SEARCHING FOR THE FAMILY LEGAL STATUS OF MEXICAN-ORIGIN CHILDREN: A PRIMER ON DIFFERENT MEASUREMENT STRATEGIES

Interest in the consequences of family legal status for children has grown in response to immigration-related changes in the ethnic composition of American society. However, few population-based empirical studies devote attention to family legal status due to data limitations. Using restricted data from the California Health Interview Survey (2009), the primary objectives of this research are to identify and evaluate strategies for measuring this important determinant of life chances among Mexican-origin children. The results indicate that measurement strategies matter. Estimates of the size of status-specific segments of this population and their risks of living in poverty are sensitive to how family legal status is operationalized. These findings provide the foundation for a discussion of how various "combinatorial" measurement strategies may rely on untenable assumptions that can be avoided with less reductionist approaches.

From undocumented to lawfully present: Do changes to legal status impact psychological wellbeing among latino immigrant young adults?

Exclusionary immigration policies, as a form of structural racism, have led to a sizeable undocumented population that is largely barred from access to resources in the United States. Existing research suggests that undocumented immigration status detrimentally impacts mobility, yet few studies have tested the impacts of legal status on psychological wellbeing. Most importantly, we know little about how changes to legal status impact wellbeing. Announced in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allows eligible undocumented youth to apply for temporary lawful status. Drawing on cross-sectional survey data from 487 Latino immigrant young adults in California collected in 2014 and 2015, we analyze the predictors of three specialized outcomes related to immigrants' psychological wellbeing-distress, negative emotions, and deportation worry before and after a transition from undocumented to lawfully present status. Results show that retrospective reports of past psychological wellness, when all respondents were undocumented, are predicted primarily by socioeconomic status. However, reports of current psychological wellness are predicted by DACA status. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the positive emotional consequences of transitioning out of undocumented status for immigrant young adults.

Unauthorized Status and Youth Development in the United States: Consensus Statement of the Society for Research on Adolescence

In the United States, 5.3 million children and adolescents are growing up either with unauthorized status or with at least one parent who has that status. Until recently, little in the way of research has informed federal, state, and local policy debates related to unauthorized status (e.g., border enforcement, deportation, and a pathway to citizenship) although these issues have important implications for youth development. This statement is a brief summary of the research evidence on multiple domains of development that may be affected by the child or parent's unauthorized status. We also describe the contextual and psychological mechanisms that may link this status to developmental outcomes. We summarize a range of policies and practices that could reduce the developmental harm to children, youth, and their families stemming from this status. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for policy, practice, and research that are based on the evidence reviewed.

Mixed-Status Immigrant Families in the United States: The Role of Social Justice in Intervention Research

More than 4 million unauthorized parents of legal status children currently reside in the United States (Capps, Fix, & Zong, 2016). Developmental scientists and intervention researchers hoping to work with these mixed-status families face a myriad of challenges, largely generated from the population's policy-driven social exclusion. Despite the challenges, there is a moral imperative to work with and support parents and children currently living in mixed-status households. This chapter applies a social justice perspective, largely stemming from Prilleltensky's critical community psychological framework, to improve the relevance and usefulness of research on mixed-status families (Prilleltensky & Nelson, 1997). We discuss the utility of this social justice perspective in theory building, study design and implementation, and dissemination of findings regarding mixed-status families, with exemplars from recent research.

Citizenship as Privilege and Social Identity: Implications for Psychological Distress

Citizenship is both a system of privilege and a source of social identity. This study examines whether there are disparities in psychological distress between citizens and noncitizens, and whether these disparities may be explained by markers of social disadvantage (e.g., poverty, discrimination) or perceptions of success in the United States (i.e., subjective social status). We analyze data from the Asian subsample (n = 2,095) of the National Latino and Asian American Study. The data show that noncitizens report greater psychological distress compared with naturalized citizens and native-born citizens after accounting for sociodemographics (e.g., age, gender, Asian subgroup), socioeconomic characteristics (education, employment, income-to-poverty ratio), immigration (e.g., interview language, years in the United States, acculturative stress), health care visits, and everyday discrimination. Preliminary evidence suggests that subjective social status may explain some of the disparities between naturalized citizen and noncitizen Asian Americans.

A life-course perspective on legal status stratification and health

Scholars have expressed growing interest in the relationship between legal status stratification and health. Nevertheless, the extant research often lacks theoretical underpinnings. We propose the life-course perspective as a theoretical lens with which to understand relationships between legal status stratification and health outcomes. In particular, the life-course perspective guides researchers׳ attention to historical contexts that have produced differential social, political, and economic outcomes for immigrants based on legal status, and to the potentially long-term and intergenerational relationships between legal status stratification and health. We review four key dimensions of the life-course perspective and make recommendations for future directions in public health research on legal status and health.

A meta-analysis of the impacts of internal migration on child health outcomes in China

BACKGROUND

According to China's 2010 population census, 38.81 million children migrated from rural to urban areas in Mainland China, a phenomenon that has attracted much scholarly attention. Due to the lack of quantitative synthesis of migrant children's developmental outcomes, we undertook a meta-analysis to compare their developmental outcomes with those of their urban counterparts.

METHODS

We searched Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Australian Education Index, British Education Index, ERIC, ProQuest Education Journals, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Family & Society Studies Worldwide, Medline, Women's Studies International databases and the Chinese CNKI database to identify relevant studies. Studies reporting physical and mental health outcomes of migrant children as well as potential protective and risk factors of child developmental outcomes were included. We assessed study quality using a quality assessment checklist.

RESULTS

We selected 25 studies from a total of 1592. Our results reveal that migrant children in public schools present significantly greater mental health problems and lower well-being than their urban counterparts, while migrant children in migrant schools do not present significantly different outcomes. In addition, migrant children were found to be more likely to be exposed to physical health risks due to limited utilization of health services. The disadvantageous health outcomes of migrant children were found to be related to a series of individual and social factors, including academic performance, social relationships, and discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS

Migrant children are disadvantaged by the sociocultural circumstances in urban areas. Government should target them and provide appropriate support in order to improve their developmental status, which will have a positive impact on the stability and development of society.

Is socioeconomic incorporation associated with a healthier diet? Dietary patterns among Mexican-origin children in the United States

With each successive generation in the United States, Mexican-origin families lose their initial dietary advantages. Focusing on children's diets, we ask whether greater socioeconomic status (SES) can help buffer Mexican-origin children in immigrant families from negative dietary acculturation or whether it exacerbates these dietary risks. Pooling data from the 1999 to 2009 waves of the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we test whether the association between generational status and Mexican-origin children's nutrition varies by the family's SES. When predicting children's overall dietary quality using the Healthy Eating Index (2010) and predicting unhealthy dietary patterns, we find stronger evidence of segmented assimilation, whereby greater family average SES is associated with better diets across generations of Mexican-origin children. High-status Mexican-origin parents appear able to buffer their children against generational dietary declines documented in the acculturation literature.

Family legal status and health: Measurement dilemmas in studies of Mexican-origin children

Family legal status is a potentially important source of variation in the health of Mexican-origin children. However, a comprehensive understanding of its role has been elusive due to data limitations and inconsistent measurement procedures. Using restricted data from the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey, we investigate the implications of measurement strategies for estimating the share of children in undocumented families and inferences about how legal status affects children's health. The results show that inferences are sensitive to how this "fundamental cause" is operationalized under various combinatorial approaches used in previous studies. We recommend alternative procedures with greater capacity to reveal how the statuses of both parents affect children's well-being. The results suggest that the legal statuses of both parents matter, but the status of mothers is especially important for assessments of child health. The investigation concludes with a discussion of possible explanations for these findings.