Migration and Mental Health: Latino Youth and Parents Adapting to Life in the American South Krista M. Perreira, Mimi V. Chapman, Stephanie Potochnick, Linda Ko, and Tasia Smith The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill We gratefully acknowledge the support of the William T. Grant Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

2 LAMHA Study Overview Provide prevalence data on mental health symptoms among first-generation Latino youth Describe the migration and acculturation experiences of immigrant youth and their relationship to mental health Describe the characteristics of the community, school, and family contexts that affect the mental health of new immigrant youth

3 LAMHA Sample 283 first generation Latino youth ages 12–19 –Born in a Caribbean or Latin American country –Born to non-U.S. Citizens 283 primary caregivers (mostly mothers) of the youth Living in a North Carolina county with both a high density of Latinos and a high growth in the Latino population between 1990 and 2000 Attending middle or high school between –4 urban and 6 rural school districts including 11 high schools and 14 middle schools

4 LAMHA Data 283 caregiver-child dyad surveys –Parent and adolescent mental health and acculturation experience –Family SES, family functioning, social support –School satisfaction, teacher support, school safety 151 caregiver survey of service use patterns –Adapted from the CASA (Burns, et al.) 20 qualitative interviews –Youth’s migration and acculturation experiences

5 Overview of Adolescent Participants Immigration Experience –71% from Mexico, 22% from Central America/Caribbean, & 4% from South America Acculturation –95% non-US citizen –70% high English language ability –58% speak only Spanish in the home –35% in the U.S. over five years Social Support –55% live with both biological parents

6 Overview of Caregiver Participants Immigration Experience –32% separated from child for one year or more Acculturation –97% non U.S. citizen –63% speak only Spanish –63% in U.S. over five years Socio-Economic Background –70% less than a high school degree –$22,428 average income $23,400 is federal poverty level for family of 5 –7% receive public assistance

7 Stress of Migration Experience among Adolescents and Caregivers

8 My World Turned Upside Down “ It was like the world just turned upside down for me. I was like why did we move? I got to learn this other language and it was killin' me. I had to go to school and I heard everybody around me talking and I was like “what are they sayin'?” It was a complete change from where I used to live. And everything just turned upside down, the language, the way I had to do things. I had to sleep with my parents, I had to share rooms with other people. …It was strange, hard. My mom used to work as a secretary [back home], she used to wear little skirts, high heels and make up. It was real hard... to come here and work with turkeys and wake up early in the morning. The sun wasn’t even up! It was strange, hard.” Alex, Mexican origin, 10 years in U.S.

9 Adolescent and Caregiver Satisfaction with Migration Decision

10 Adolescent and Caregiver Reports on Familism by Time in the U.S.

11 Source of Discrimination Reported by Adolescent

12 Psychological Acculturation by Country of Birth Latino Preference Anglo Preference Bicultural

13 Acculturation, Discrimination, and Education by Caregiver Depressive Symptoms 14% of Caregivers Had Depressive Symptoms

14 Adolescent Mental Health by Caregiver Depressive Symptoms

15 Conclusions Migration Journey: Migration process stressful but the majority were content with the decision to migrate Family Experiences: Family was an important source of social support no matter length of residence in the U.S. Discrimination: Discrimination kept adolescents and their parents from truly feeling a part of their communities Psychological Acculturation: Adolescents tend to acculturate quicker than parents Mental Health: Challenges of migration and acculturation take a toll on mental and emotional health