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Interior Immigration Enforcement Experiences, Perceived Discrimination, and Mental Health of US-Citizen Adolescents With Mexican Immigrant Parents
Journal article

Interior Immigration Enforcement Experiences, Perceived Discrimination, and Mental Health of US-Citizen Adolescents With Mexican Immigrant Parents

Jamile Tellez Lieberman, Nishita Dsouza, Carmen R. Valdez, Jessie K. Pintor, Philippe Weisz, Amy Carroll-Scott and Ana P. Martinez-Donate
Journal of latinx psychology, v 13(1), pp 18-34
08 Jul 2024
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000263View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Multidisciplinary Psychology, Social Psychology Social Sciences
About 5.2 million children and adolescents (4.4 million of whom are citizens) live with at least one undocumented immigrant parent in the United States. Increased immigration enforcement under former President Trump put thousands of mixed-status families with children at risk for family separation via deportation. Additionally, enforcement activities bolstered an anti-immigrant/anti-Latinx climate that encouraged discriminatory or racist rhetoric and encounters against Latinx families across the country. This study examines the extent to which distinct types of hostile immigration experiences, namely discrimination, detainment, and parental deportation, increase the mental health burden on Latinx adolescents with at least one immigrant parent. We used baseline survey data (n = 101) from the Between the Lines Study, a panel pilot study with U.S.-citizen adolescents (13-17 years) with at least one Mexican origin parent or caregiver affected by or at risk for parental deportation, conducted across the United States from 2019 to 2020. We examined the effects of exposure to different levels of immigration enforcement and perceived discrimination on mental health symptomology by fitting multivariable logistic regression models. After adjusting for other covariates, exposure to parental deportation significantly increased the odds of high levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms among participants. Similarly, exposure to discrimination significantly increased the odds of high levels of depressive symptoms and internalized stigma. Immigration enforcement and discrimination both appear to negatively affect Latinx citizen adolescents' mental health. In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, evidence-based, family-friendly policies and interventions that prioritize psychological well-being are necessary to reduce mental health disparities.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Clinical
Psychology, Developmental
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Psychology, Social
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