Jodi Berger Cardoso1, Kalina Brabeck2, Randy Capps3, Tzuan Chen4, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago5, Anjely Huertas2, Nubia A Mayorga6. 1. HEALTH Research Institute, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: jcardoso@central.uh.edu. 2. Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island. 3. Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC. 4. HEALTH Research Institute, Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. 5. HEALTH Research Institute, Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. 6. College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Immigration enforcement policies and negative rhetoric about immigrants harm the psychological well-being of Latinx youth in immigrant families, particularly those who are most vulnerable because of their own or their loved ones' legal status. According to the Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies among Minority Children, discrimination may be one pathway to explain how vulnerability to restrictive immigration policies affects Latinx youth mental health. METHODS: We collected data from 306 Latinx high school students from immigrant families in Harris County, Texas, and Rhode Island to (1) determine the direct effect of immigration enforcement fear (a proxy for the social position of vulnerable legal status) on adolescents' anxiety; (2) explore the effect of immigration enforcement fear on anxiety through the pathway of perceived discrimination; and (3) test whether the different enforcement climates in the two study sites moderate these pathways. Total anxiety and subscales measuring separation, social, school, generalized, and somatic anxiety subtypes were analyzed. RESULTS: Immigration enforcement fear was related to increased somatic and separation anxiety in both first- and second-generation Latinx adolescents. Perceived discrimination partially mediated the association between immigration enforcement fear and separation and somatic anxiety; data collection site did not moderate these effects. CONCLUSIONS: Immigration policies and rhetoric have psychological consequences. Although the adolescents in our study face multiple stressors, immigration enforcement fear may heighten their perception of discrimination, in turn, likely elevating their physiological and family separation anxiety.
PURPOSE: Immigration enforcement policies and negative rhetoric about immigrants harm the psychological well-being of Latinx youth in immigrant families, particularly those who are most vulnerable because of their own or their loved ones' legal status. According to the Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies among Minority Children, discrimination may be one pathway to explain how vulnerability to restrictive immigration policies affects Latinx youth mental health. METHODS: We collected data from 306 Latinx high school students from immigrant families in Harris County, Texas, and Rhode Island to (1) determine the direct effect of immigration enforcement fear (a proxy for the social position of vulnerable legal status) on adolescents' anxiety; (2) explore the effect of immigration enforcement fear on anxiety through the pathway of perceived discrimination; and (3) test whether the different enforcement climates in the two study sites moderate these pathways. Total anxiety and subscales measuring separation, social, school, generalized, and somatic anxiety subtypes were analyzed. RESULTS: Immigration enforcement fear was related to increased somatic and separation anxiety in both first- and second-generation Latinx adolescents. Perceived discrimination partially mediated the association between immigration enforcement fear and separation and somatic anxiety; data collection site did not moderate these effects. CONCLUSIONS: Immigration policies and rhetoric have psychological consequences. Although the adolescents in our study face multiple stressors, immigration enforcement fear may heighten their perception of discrimination, in turn, likely elevating their physiological and family separation anxiety.
Authors: Jessica L Borelli; Lyric N Russo; Jose Arreola; Breana R Cervantes; Christina M Marquez; Gloria Montiel; Vanessa Avalos; Jacqueline Carballo; Jackie Garcia; Isha Bhatt; Gina Torres; Francisca Leal; Nancy Guerra Journal: Res Psychother Date: 2022-02-04
Authors: Nubia A Mayorga; Lorra Garey; Andres Viana; Jodi Berger Cardoso; Norman B Schmidt; Michael J Zvolensky Journal: Cognit Ther Res Date: 2021-06-19