Discrimination and PTSD among Latinx immigrant youth: The moderating effects of gender

OBJECTIVE

Discrimination is a minority-related stressor that contributes to mental health disparities between Latinx youth and their racial/ethnic peers. Discrimination activates the body's stress response system, resulting in a higher allostatic load that can cause mental health problems such as PTSD. We explored 1) the relation between perceived discrimination and PTSD symptoms among Latinx immigrant youth, and 2) how gender moderates this relation.

METHODS

We conducted surveys with 306 Latinx first- and second-generation immigrant youth during the 2018-19 school year in Harris County, Texas and Rhode Island.

RESULTS

We found that youth who perceived more discrimination were more likely to report PTSD symptoms. Female participants reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms than males, including higher levels of avoidance and reexperiencing symptoms. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased PTSD symptoms, including hypervigilance and avoidance symptoms, for female participants but not males. These interactions did not differ by location.

CONCLUSION

These results further provide support for research into discrimination as a potentially traumatic experience linked to PTSD and underscore the importance of including discrimination in assessments of trauma and adverse childhood outcomes among Latinx immigrant youth. Results further suggest the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how discrimination relates to PTSD among Latinx immigrant youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

Suicidality among immigrants: Application of the interpersonal-psychological theory

Immigrants constitute a significant percentage of the total population living in the United States; however, there is a paucity of research unique to suicidality among immigrants. The present article examines the applicability of the three variables of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior-acquired capability for suicide, sense of thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness-to conceptualize, assess, and treat suicidality among immigrants. Risk and protective factors and mechanisms are discussed in the context of 2 case studies and immigrant paradox. Clinical implications include assessment and treatment of immigrant-specific experiences. Obstacles to treatment and future research directions are presented.

Authorized and Unauthorized Immigrant Parents

This study explores the social-ecological contexts of unauthorized immigrant families and their U.S.-born children, through examining how otherwise similarly low-income, urban, Latino immigrant families differ on the basis of the parents’ legal status and interactions with the immigration system. Drawing on social-ecological theory, variations based on parents’ legal vulnerability among exosystem-level experiences (e.g., parents’ occupational stress, discrimination experiences) and microsystem-level experiences (e.g., parents’ mental health, parenting stress) were explored. Structured interviews were conducted with 178 families with an immigrant parent from Mexico, Central America, and Dominican Republic, and a child (aged 7-10 years) born in the United States. Unauthorized parents reported statistically higher occupational stress, ethnicity-based discrimination, challenges learning English, immigration challenges, and legal status challenges, and lower use of social services, when compared with authorized parents. The groups did not differ on microsystem factors (e.g., parent mental health, and parenting, marital, and family stress).

The psychosocial impact of detention and deportation on U.S. migrant children and families

Approximately 4.5 million U.S. citizen children live in mixed-status families, in which at least 1 family member is an unauthorized migrant and therefore vulnerable to detention and deportation from the United States (Passel & Cohn, 2011). This article critically examines the current state of the literature on the psychosocial consequences of detention and deportation for unauthorized migrants, mixed-status families, and their U.S.-born children. In particular, drawing on social and psychological theory and research, we (a) review the impact of parents' unauthorized status on children; (b) summarize the literature on the impact of detention processes on psychosocial well-being; (c) describe the dilemma faced by a mixed-status family when a parent faces deportation; (d) examine the current social scientific literature on how parental deportation impacts children and their families; and (e) summarize several policy recommendations for protecting children and families.

Methodological Challenges in Participatory Action Research with Undocumented Central American Migrants

An interdisciplinary participatory action research (PAR) project was designed in collaboration with local immigrant organizations to document the impact of deportation policy on Central American immigrant families living in the northeastern U.S. This paper reports on selected methodological challenges of university-based co-researchers in this community-university PAR process which is currently concluding its fourth year. The paper discusses the iterative action-reflection processes focusing on: (1) an overview of the PAR project and its multiple phases within the U.S. and in Guatemala; (2) select challenges and contributions of the PAR approach for participating immigrant families “living in the shadows” and, (3) methodological concerns from the three coauthors, who include a graduate student who joined the early stages of partnership-building; an assistant professor in the early stages of her career; and a senior scholar with many years of experience in activist scholarship. We conclude with thoughts on why, despite these challenges, PAR is “worth the trouble”.

Exploring Mexican-origin intimate partner abuse survivors' help-seeking within their sociocultural contexts

Women's responses to partner abuse are shaped by their particular sociocultural contexts. In this study, quantitative data were collected from 75 Mexican-origin women who survived intimate partner abuse, to identify variables associated with help-seeking to survive relationship abuse. Help-seeking was defined as use of formal (e.g., shelter) and informal (e.g., family) sources. Variables included two cultural variables: machismo (i.e., adherence to traditional gender roles) and familismo (i.e., valuing family cohesion and reciprocity), and four sociostructural variables: income, education, English proficiency, and immigrant status. Results indicated participants with higher levels of familismo sought informal help more frequently than those with lower levels. Women with grade school education, no English proficiency, and undocumented status sought formal help less frequently than those not constrained by these barriers.

Frequency and Perceived Effectiveness of Strategies to Survive Abuse Employed by Battered Mexican-Origin Women

This study documented the frequency and perceived effectiveness of battered Mexican-origin women's usage of formal and informal help and personal strategies to survive abuse. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 75 battered Mexican-origin women. Consistent with survivor theory, results indicated that participants sought help multiple times from several formal and informal help sources; some (i.e., shelter, family) were perceived more effective than others (i.e., lawyer, in-laws). Participants engaged in various personal strategies to survive abuse; some (i.e., using faith/religion) were rated more effective than others (i.e., placating the batterer). Responses to open-ended questions suggest why specific help sources and strategies were/were not effective and provide socioculturally specific suggestions for improving services. This study illuminates battered Mexican-origin women's strengths and barriers that impede their survival efforts. Contributions include focusing on a subset of battered Latinas and documenting the frequency and perceived effectiveness of a wide array of help sources and strategies.

Relationship styles of self-focused autonomy, other-focused connection, and mutuality among Mexican American and European American college students

The author examined relationship styles of self-focused autonomy (SFA), other-focused connection (OFC), and mutuality among 415 European and Mexican American young adults in 2 U.S. colleges. Mutuality was the most commonly reported style for both ethnic groups, although Mexican American men were more likely than the others to indicate that they had the SFA style. Mexican American participants perceived their fathers' styles as SFA more often than did the others regarding either of their parents' styles. Mutuality was associated with the best mental-health outcomes regardless of gender or ethnicity. The present results indicate that the cultural influences on autonomy and connection are complex and that collectivistic cultural contexts may sometimes promote autonomy concerns in men.