Exploring the Association Between Detention Conditions, Detention-Related Abuse, and Mental Health Among Deported Mexican Migrants.

Migration, detention, and deportation are often rife with violence. This study sought to examine associations between pre-migration experiences, detention conditions, and mental health among Mexicans deported from the U.S. to Mexico between 2020 and 2021. Data from the Migrante Project (N=306, weighted N=14,841) were analyzed using descriptive statistics and unadjusted and adjusted multivariate regression models. The prevalence of a lifetime mental health diagnosis was 18.5%. Exposure to adverse conditions in detention (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=17.56, p<.001) and having been detained in both immigration and non-immigration facilities (AOR=9.70, p=.042) were significantly associated with increased odds of experiencing abuse during migrants' most recent detention. Experiencing abuse during migrants' most recent detention was, in turn, associated with increased odds of a lifetime mental health diagnosis (AOR=4.72, p<.005). Targeted, trauma-informed mental health services are needed for deported Mexican migrants.

Role of country of origin and state of residence for dietary change among foreign-born adults in the US.

Place of origin and place of current residence may shape migrants' health-related behaviors. Using the nationally-representative US New Immigrant Survey (n = 7930), we examined associations between country of origin, state of residence, and dietary changes among foreign-born adults. 65% of migrants reported dietary change since immigration (mean score = 7.3; range = 1-10); 6% of the variance was explained by country of origin characteristics; 1.6% by US state of residence; 1.4% by their interaction. Country of origin factors, specifically availability of animal source foods and sweets, were associated with dietary change, availability of sweets also including greater abandonment of specific foods and adoption of others.

Patterns in Contraceptive Use Among Women of Mexican Origin in the United States and in Mexico.

OBJECTIVE: To examine current contraceptive use by parity among four ethnicity and nativity groups: non-Latina White women in the United States, Mexican-American women in the United States, foreign-born women of Mexican origin in the United States, and Mexican women in Mexico. METHODS: We combined nationally representative data from sexually active women, aged 15-44 years, and not seeking pregnancy from the U.S. National Survey of Family Growth and the Mexican National Survey of Demographic Dynamics. This is a secondary binational analysis. Using multivariable logistic regression, we estimated the prevalence of moderately or most effective contraceptive method use (compared with least effective or no contraceptive method) by ethnicity and nativity and tested the interaction between ethnicity and nativity and parity. RESULTS: Compared with non-Latina White women, women of Mexican origin had lower odds of using a moderately or most effective contraceptive method (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] [95% CI] Mexican-American women: 0.69 [0.54-0.87]; foreign-born women: 0.67 [0.48-0.95]; Mexican women in Mexico: 0.59 [0.40-0.87]). Among parous women, the adjusted probability of using a moderately or most effective contraceptive method was approximately 65% among all four groups. Contraceptive method use did not differ by parity among non-Latina White women. However, parous Mexican-American women were 1.5 times more likely to use moderately or most effective contraceptive methods than nulliparous Mexican-American women (adjusted probability 66.1% vs 42.7%). Parous foreign-born women were 1.8 times more likely to use most or moderately effective contraceptive methods than their nulliparous counterparts (64.5% vs 36.0%), and parous Mexican women in Mexico were three times more likely to use moderately or most effective contraceptive methods (65.2% vs 21.5%). CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that access to effective contraception is limited outside the context of childbearing for women of Mexican origin in the United States and, to an even larger extent, in Mexico.

Adolescent Reproductive Health Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Women on Both Sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border.

PURPOSE: Much reproductive health research on the Latina population overlooks heterogeneity by national origin, nativity, and age and also ignores how U.S.-based populations differ from those in "sending" nations. The purpose of this study is to describe a history of adolescent birth, age at first sex, and contraceptive use at first sex in the Mexican-origin population in both the United States and Mexico. METHODS: We developed a binational dataset merging two comparable nationally representative cross-sectional surveys in the United States and Mexico and used covariate balancing propensity scores to balance the age structure of our four samples: U.S.-born Latinas of Mexican origin, foreign-born Latinas of Mexican origin, U.S.-born non-Latina Whites, and Mexican women residing in Mexico. We used a negative binomial regression and calculated the predicted probability of experiencing at least one adolescent birth for each ethnicity/nativity group, stratified by 5-year age group. We also described age and contraceptive use at first sex. RESULTS: Foreign-born Latinas of Mexican origin and Mexicans in Mexico had similar adjusted probabilities of reporting an adolescent birth (30.1% and 29.9%, respectively), which were higher than those of Mexican-Americans (26.2%) and U.S.-born non-Latina Whites (11.6%). History of an adolescent birth is declining across all four groups among younger ages. Differences do not appear to be driven by the timing of first sex but by contraceptive use, which is increasing among younger age groups. DISCUSSION: Access to and use of effective contraception rather than timing of initiation of sexual activity is a key determinant of U.S. Latina and Mexican adolescent births.

Operationalizing and empirically identifying populations trapped in place by climate and environmental stressors in Mexico.

In this paper, we propose a guiding operational definition and corresponding set of empirical steps to identify and study trapped populations. Trapped populations consist of actors who are highly vulnerable to climate and environmental stressors given limited resources (economic, social, etc.), which limit their ability to adapt to these stressors in-situ or by choosing to migrate. Informed by both insights and omissions from prior theoretical and empirical research, we propose a guiding operational definition of trapped populations that appreciates and incorporates actors' limited resources and their migration intentions against the backdrop of climate and environmental stressors. As it should, our operational definition points to a specific set of operations, or steps, which can be followed to empirically identify and study trapped populations. Using data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we detail the steps permitting both retrospective and prospective identification of trapped populations. We conclude by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of our operational definition and empirical approach, as well as possible extensions.

Obesity Incidence in U.S. Children and Young Adults: A Pooled Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has risen sharply, yet there is a limited understanding of the age-specific dynamics of obesity as there is no single nationally representative cohort following children into young adulthood. Investigators constructed a pooled data set of 5 nationally representative panels and modeled age-specific obesity incidence from childhood into young adulthood. METHODS: This longitudinal prospective follow-up used 718,560 person-years of observation in a pooled data set of 5 high-quality nationally representative panels-National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and 1997, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohorts of 1998 and 2011-constructed by the authors, covering 1980-2016. Differences in obesity incidence across birth cohorts and disparities in obesity incidence by sex and race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White) were tested in multivariate models. Data were analyzed from September 2018 to October 2021. RESULTS: Obesity incidence increased by approximately 6% for each 1 year of age (hazard ratio=1.06, 95% CI=1.05, 1.07); however, incidence was nonlinear, exhibiting an inverted "U"-shaped pattern before 15 years of age and then rising from adolescence through 30 years. Obesity incidence more than doubled between the cohorts born in 1957-1965 and those born in 1974-1985 during adolescence. There was no significant change among those born in 1991-1994 and 2003-2006 up to age 15 years. Compared with non-Hispanic White children, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children had higher obesity incidence in all study cohorts. The magnitude of these disparities on the relative scale remained stable throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Although many children become obese before the age of 10, obesity incidence rises from about 15 years into early adulthood, suggesting that interventions are required at multiple developmental stages.

Preventing intimate partner violence among foreign-born Latinx mothers through relationship education during nurse home visiting.

AIMS: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an augmented home visiting programme in preventing intimate partner violence among Latinx mothers by nativity. BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence diminishes home visit programmes' effectiveness. Immigrant Latinx mothers are especially vulnerable and need culturally tailored prevention. METHODS: We performed secondary analyses of 33 US-born and 86 foreign-born Latinx mothers at baseline and 1- and 2-year follow-up in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the Nurse-Family Partnership programme augmented with nurse-delivered Within My Reach relationship education curriculum and violence screening and referrals in Oregon. We estimated proportional odds models via generalized estimating equations on total physical and sexual victimization and/or perpetration forms (an ordinal variable), adjusting for intervention, wave, age and education. RESULTS: The intervention-nativity interaction was not significant (p = .953). Foreign-born status was associated with lower reported violence at baseline (adjusted odds ratio: 0.29, 95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.67, p = .004). This association was marginally significant at 1-year follow-up (0.43, 0.17-1.08, p = .072) and not significant at 2-year follow-up (0.75, 0.33-1.67, p = .475). CONCLUSIONS: This augmented programme was not effective for Latinx mothers by nativity. Their nativity gap diminished over time. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing leaders should support culturally tailored home visiting programmes to detect and prevent intimate partner violence affecting Latinx immigrants. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov NCT01811719. The full trial protocol can be accessed at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01811719.

Beyond recent BMI: BMI exposure metrics and their relationship to health.

Body mass index (BMI) is generally used to classify adiposity. Despite the fact that the consequences of adiposity for chronic health accumulate and manifest over time, most population health research exploring the implications of high BMI measures only its recent intensity. Some studies have used retrospective measures involving maximum weight, and even fewer have used BMI at multiple time points to estimate cumulative exposure to adiposity. The goal of this study was to compare BMI exposure metrics that captured different dimensions of body mass - intensity, history, and duration - in models of health indicators linked with adiposity. We used self-reported BMI of young adults (ages 18 - 33 years, n = 8,608) across 11 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to evaluate eight BMI exposure metrics: most recent, maximum, mean, and median BMI, proportion of time with overweight/obesity, and excess BMI-years with overweight/obesity. We used these metrics in models of self-reported general health, chronic condition, and diabetes, and ascertained how most recent BMI performed when compared with other metrics that better capture the dynamics of BMI. The Akaike information criteria and Vuong tests were used for model comparison, and the strengths of associations were also compared. Most recent BMI was the best metric for explaining general health. Median BMI was best for explaining diabetes, with most recent BMI under-estimating the association by 13% relative to median BMI. For chronic condition, there was no clear best metric. We concluded that most recent BMI is useful for explaining health outcomes, though other metrics should also be given consideration, particularly for conditions that develop over time. Metrics that accounted for both intensity and history performed quite well, but the duration measures might be less useful.

Climate Migration at the Height and End of the Great Mexican Emigration Era.

Previous research has linked increasing climate-change-related variability to Mexico-US migration, but only under particular climatic/social conditions and periods of high irregular migration. Using the 2000 and 2010 Mexican censuses, we examine this environment-migration nexus across a broader set of socioecological contexts and during periods of both increasing (1995-1999) and declining (2005-2009) migration. Consistent with the notion that climate can "trap" populations in place, we find that frequent/severe bouts of hot or dry conditions are associated with lower US-bound migration from most of rural Mexico. However, we do find higher climate outmigration during episodes hot and dry climate, or out of places with lower vulnerability. Our comparisons across periods suggest that climate migration is affected by conditions in the U.S. in a similar or slightly weaker manner as other forms of migration are. Altogether, our findings suggest that rural Mexico is unlikely to push large numbers of international "climate refugees" and that climate migration is indeed sensitive to conditions in sending and destination areas.

Internal and International Mobility as Adaptation to Climatic Variability in Contemporary Mexico: Evidence from the Integration of Census and Satellite Data.

Migration provides a strategy for rural Mexican households to cope with, or adapt to, weather events and climatic variability. Yet prior studies on "environmental migration" in this context have not examined the differences between choices of internal (domestic) or international movement. In addition, much of the prior work relied on very coarse spatial scales to operationalize the environmental variables such as rainfall patterns. To overcome these limitations, we use fine-grain rainfall estimates derived from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The rainfall estimates are combined with Population and Agricultural Census information to examine associations between environmental changes and municipal rates of internal and international migration 2005-2010. Our findings suggest that municipal-level rainfall deficits relative to historical levels are an important predictor of both international and internal migration, especially in areas dependent on seasonal rainfall for crop productivity. Although our findings do not contradict results of prior studies using coarse spatial resolution, they offer clearer results and a more spatially nuanced examination of migration as related to social and environmental vulnerability and thus higher degrees of confidence.

Does the Hispanic health advantage extend to better management of hypertension? The role of socioeconomic status, sociobehavioral factors, and health care access.

Hispanics in the United States (and foreign-born Hispanics in particular) have relatively favorable health given their lower socioeconomic status compared to, for example, non-Hispanic whites. This phenomenon is often called the Hispanic health paradox (HHP). This study examines whether the previously documented HHP in hypertension prevalence extends to its management using clinical and self-reported measures from the 2007-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Multivariate models adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and sociobehavioral characteristics show an advantage among foreign-born Mexicans in hypertension prevalence relative to non-Hispanic whites (adjusted OR = 0.85). However, compared to non-Hispanic whites, foreign-born Mexicans were 38% less likely to receive treatment recommendations and, when advised to undergo treatment, were 60% less likely to adhere to treatment. Adjusting for health care access and utilization dramatically reduces disparities in hypertension control between foreign-born Mexicans and non-Hispanic whites, suggesting that insufficient systematic access to and use of quality health care erodes the HHP and contributes to the deterioration of health throughout the immigrant experience. Without appropriate interventions, particularly in health care access and utilization, poorer hypertension management among foreign-born Mexicans may negatively affect the Hispanic health profile, increase risk of cardiovascular disease-related mortality, and erode the Hispanic health advantage in the future.

Explaining the Immigrant Health Advantage: Self-selection and Protection in Health-Related Factors Among Five Major National-Origin Immigrant Groups in the United States.

Despite being newcomers, immigrants often exhibit better health relative to native-born populations in industrialized societies. We extend prior efforts to identify whether self-selection and/or protection explain this advantage. We examine migrant height and smoking levels just prior to immigration to test for self-selection; and we analyze smoking behavior since immigration, controlling for self-selection, to assess protection. We study individuals aged 20-49 from five major national origins: India, China, the Philippines, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. To assess self-selection, we compare migrants, interviewed in the National Health and Interview Surveys (NHIS), with nonmigrant peers in sending nations, interviewed in the World Health Surveys. To test for protection, we contrast migrants' changes in smoking since immigration with two counterfactuals: (1) rates that immigrants would have exhibited had they adopted the behavior of U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites in the NHIS (full "assimilation"); and (2) rates that migrants would have had if they had adopted the rates of nonmigrants in sending countries (no-migration scenario). We find statistically significant and substantial self-selection, particularly among men from both higher-skilled (Indians and Filipinos in height, Chinese in smoking) and lower-skilled (Mexican) undocumented pools. We also find significant and substantial protection in smoking among immigrant groups with stronger relative social capital (Mexicans and Dominicans).

SES Gradients Among Mexicans in the United States and in Mexico: A New Twist to the Hispanic Paradox?

Recent empirical findings have suggested the existence of a twist in the Hispanic paradox, in which Mexican and other Hispanic foreign-born migrants living in the United States experience shallower socioeconomic status (SES) health disparities than those in the U.S. POPULATION: In this article, we seek to replicate this finding and test conjectures that could explain this new observed phenomenon using objective indicators of adult health by educational attainment in several groups: (1) Mexican-born individuals living in Mexico and in the United States, (2) U.S.-born Mexican Americans, and (3) non-Hispanic American whites. Our analytical strategy improves upon previous research on three fronts. First, we derive four hypotheses from a general framework that has also been used to explain the standard Hispanic paradox. Second, we study biomarkers rather than self-reported health and related conditions. Third, we use a binational data platform that includes both Mexicans living in Mexico (Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2006) and Mexican migrants to the United States (NHANES 1999-2010). We find steep education gradients among Mexicans living in Mexico's urban areas in five of six biomarkers of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and in the overall MetS score. Mexican migrants living in the United States experience similar patterns to Mexicans living in Mexico in glucose and obesity biomarkers. These results are inconsistent with previous findings, suggesting that Mexican migrants in the United States experience significantly attenuated health gradients relative to the non-Hispanic white U.S. POPULATION: Our empirical evidence also contradicts the idea that SES-health gradients in Mexico are shallower than those in the United States and could be invoked to explain shallower gradients among Mexicans living in the United States.

Early Childhood Disadvantage for Sons of Mexican Immigrants: Body Mass Index Across Ages 2-5.

PURPOSE: To distinguish the origins of higher weight status and determine when and why intra- and interracial/ethnic disparities emerge. DESIGN: The study used a longitudinal analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). SETTING: The study was conducted in the United States. SUBJECTS: Participants were children of non-Hispanic white mothers and children of U.S.- and foreign-born mothers of Mexican origin from a nationally representative sample of children born in the year 2001 (N ≈ 3700). MEASURES: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts determined sex- and age-specific weight status. Covariates were obtained from birth certificate records and parent interviews. ANALYSIS: Frequencies, growth curve trajectories, and ordinary least squares regression examined body mass index (BMI) and obesity across survey waves. RESULTS: Compared to their peers with non-Hispanic white mothers, children of Mexican-heritage mothers have higher average BMI and greater rates of obesity. The BMI of boys with Mexican-born mothers is higher relative to whites and children of U.S.-born Mexican mothers across early childhood, increasing sharply at about age 4.5 years. This divergence is driven by increases in the BMI of boys, as girls do not show the same growth. A number of measures, including descriptors of children's nutritional intake, lifestyle factors, and acculturation, do not explain the increased obesity rates among sons of Mexican mothers. CONCLUSION: Despite favorable perinatal health and weight, Mexican-American sons of foreign-born mothers show disadvantages in BMI that emerge close to the start of kindergarten.

Domestic and International Climate Migration from Rural Mexico.

Evidence is increasing that climate change and variability may influence human migration patterns. However, there is less agreement regarding the type of migration streams most strongly impacted. This study tests whether climate change more strongly impacted international compared to domestic migration from rural Mexico during 1986-99. We employ eight temperature and precipitation-based climate change indices linked to detailed migration histories obtained from the Mexican Migration Project. Results from multilevel discrete-time event-history models challenge the assumption that climate-related migration will be predominantly short distance and domestic, but instead show that climate change more strongly impacted international moves from rural Mexico. The stronger climate impact on international migration may be explained by the self-insurance function of international migration, the presence of strong migrant networks, and climate-related changes in wage difference. While a warming in temperature increased international outmigration, higher levels of precipitation declined the odds of an international move.

The Potential and Limitations of Cross-Context Comparative Research on Migration.

This article is an overview of household survey approaches for the comparative study of international migration dynamics. Focusing on differences in the drivers of international mobility at different times and places, I highlight the problems of obtaining data with adequate representation across time periods and geographies, and discuss a broad constellation of prospective and retrospective approaches, paying particular attention to the migration ethnosurvey. I place this methodology within a broader constellation of prospective and retrospective data collection techniques, briefly describing the advantages and disadvantages of each and summarizing the commonalities and differences of ethnosurvey approaches adopted around the world. In particular, I discuss the potential and limitations of cross-context research and suggest post hoc case selection and other adjustments to ameliorate problems. I conclude with ideas about how case and sample selection can help to bolster migration studies in the future.

Prospects for the Comparative Study of International Migration using quasi-longitudinal micro-data.

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal micro-level data about international migration behavior are notoriously difficult to collect, but data collection efforts have become more frequent in recent years. Comparative research of the patterns and processes of international migration, however, remains quite rare, especially that which compares across regions. OBJECTIVE: We highlight the promises and difficulties of comparative international migration research, by offering a detailed comparison of two prominent data collection efforts. METHODS: We systematically review existing sources of longitudinal and quasi-longitudinal individual-level and household-level data of international migration. We then compare two widely-used data sources: the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) and the Migration between Africa and Europe project (MAFE). RESULTS: Data collection efforts are increasingly diverse, yet public accessibility of data remains limited. Also, comparability of data collected across settings can be complicated. In our MMP-MAFE analysis, we show some ways in which comparability can be achieved. CONCLUSIONS: A primary roadblock to international comparative research is that, with some exceptions, the public accessibility of data remains low. Even when data is public and surveys are modeled after one another, comparability is not easy due to necessary trade-offs in adapting surveys to local settings and to developments in the field. CONTRIBUTION: We demonstrate that, despite great strides in collecting quasi-longitudinal data of international migration, data accessibility still hinders the study of migration. With regards to comparability, our article provides important lessons for future data collection and analysis efforts that could improve comparability and thus advance understanding of the complex dynamics of international migration.

Amplification or suppression: Social networks and the climate change-migration association in rural Mexico.

Increasing rates of climate migration may be of economic and national concern to sending and destination countries. It has been argued that social networks - the ties connecting an origin and destination - may operate as "migration corridors" with the potential to strongly facilitate climate change-related migration. This study investigates whether social networks at the household and community levels amplify or suppress the impact of climate change on international migration from rural Mexico. A novel set of 15 climate change indices was generated based on daily temperature and precipitation data for 214 weather stations across Mexico. Employing geostatistical interpolation techniques, the climate change values were linked to 68 rural municipalities for which sociodemographic data and detailed migration histories were available from the Mexican Migration Project. Multi-level discrete-time event-history models were used to investigate the effect of climate change on international migration between 1986 and 1999. At the household level, the effect of social networks was approximated by comparing the first to the last move, assuming that through the first move a household establishes internal social capital. At the community level, the impact of social capital was explored through interactions with a measure of the proportion of adults with migration experience. The results show that rather than amplifying, social capital may suppress the sensitivity of migration to climate triggers, suggesting that social networks could facilitate climate change adaptation in place.

Climate Change as Migration Driver from Rural and Urban Mexico.

Studies investigating migration as a response to climate variability have largely focused on rural locations to the exclusion of urban areas. This lack of urban focus is unfortunate given the sheer numbers of urban residents and continuing high levels of urbanization. To begin filling this empirical gap, this study investigates climate change impacts on U.S.-bound migration from rural and urban Mexico, 1986-1999. We employ geostatistical interpolation methods to construct two climate change indices, capturing warm and wet spell duration, based on daily temperature and precipitation readings for 214 weather stations across Mexico. In combination with detailed migration histories obtained from the Mexican Migration Project, we model the influence of climate change on household-level migration from 68 rural and 49 urban municipalities. Results from multilevel event-history models reveal that a temperature warming and excessive precipitation significantly increased international migration during the study period. However, climate change impacts on international migration is only observed for rural areas. Interactions reveal a causal pathway in which temperature (but not precipitation) influences migration patterns through employment in the agricultural sector. As such, climate-related international migration may decline with continued urbanization and the resulting reductions in direct dependence of households on rural agriculture.