Immigrant Parent Legal Status and Children's Health in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth).

We assess how immigrant parent legal status shapes children's physical and mental health. Using the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth-a multi-site dataset-we evaluated mean differences in multiple physical and mental health indicators and parents' and children's stress and resilience by parents' (primarily mothers') legal status (N = 1177). We estimated regression models of two overall child health outcomes-allostatic load and any internalized disorder. Average allostatic load was 28% higher (0.36 standard deviations) and average prevalence of any internalizing disorder was 16% points greater for children of foreign-born unauthorized versus US-born parents. Higher levels of socioeconomic and acculturative stress contributed to children of foreign-born unauthorized parents' heightened health risk, while resilience factors-parental health and familial support-protected their health. Children with unauthorized immigrant parents experience both negative physical and mental health outcomes that can have potential long-term costs.

U.S. Occupational Mobility of Children of Immigrants Based on Parents' Origin-Country Occupation.

This study provides a national-level assessment of occupational mobility and early-career attainment of children of immigrants based on parents' origin-country occupation. Exploiting unique aspects of the Educational Longitudinal Study, we examine how parent-child U.S. intergenerational occupational mobility patterns and child occupational attainment differ based on parental premigration occupational status (i.e., low- vs. high-skilled) and parental postmigration occupational mobility (i.e., upward, same, or downward). Our results suggest misestimation in intergenerational mobility research if parents' origin-country occupation is excluded. Including parents' origin-country occupation, we find that the children of immigrants are recovering from instances of parental occupational downgrading, building on parental advances, and advancing where parents could not. Furthermore, most children of immigrants do as well or better occupationally than children of non-Hispanic White natives. Strong educational investments help explain this advantage, particularly for children of high-skilled immigrants. However, results indicate that all children of immigrants would attain even more if they faced fewer postmigration barriers, especially children of low-skilled immigrants. These results advance immigrant selection and assimilation theories by demonstrating how pre- and postmigration factors influence occupational attainment of children of immigrants.

Integrating Hispanic Immigrant Youth: Perspectives from White and Black Americans in Emerging Hispanic Communities and Schools.

Acculturation is bidirectional and includes not only the process of Hispanics adaptation to US culture(s) but also the process of US cultural adaptations to Hispanics. However, few studies of Hispanic adolescent adaptation have examined the ways in which US society accommodates or fails to accommodate its Hispanic immigrant populations. Our study addresses this gap by examining the ways in which non-Hispanic students, parents, and teachers in an emerging Hispanic community have acculturated to the Hispanic adolescents in their community. This study utilizes focus-group data from the Southern Immigrant Academic Adaptation (SIAA) study -- a multi-site, high school-based study conducted in North Carolina between 2006 and 2010. We held 34 focus groups with 139 participants from two rural and two urban high schools. In each community, at least seven focus groups were conducted to include non-Hispanics: (1) black female and male students, (2) black parents, (3) white female and male students, (4) white parents, and (5) high school teachers. In each school, we identified different modes of incorporation linked with receiving-community acculturation strategies that included varying degrees of accommodation of heritage cultures and languages as well as cultural exchanges ranging from inclusionary to exclusionary.

Food Insecurity Among Hispanic/Latino Youth: Who Is at Risk and What Are the Health Correlates?

PURPOSE: We examined the correlates and health implications of household food insecurity among Hispanic/Latino youth (aged 8-16 years), a high food insecurity-risk population. METHODS: Using the Hispanic Community Children's Health/Study of Latino Youth (n = 1,362) and bivariate and multivariate analyses, we examined the correlates of household and child food insecurity and very low food security. We assessed the influence of four sets of risk/protective factors-child demographic, acculturation, socioeconomic, and family/social support. We then examined associations between food insecurity and four health indicators-body mass index, diet quality, depression, and anxiety-and used modification effects to assess whether these associations differed by sex, age, household income, parent nativity, and acculturative stress levels. RESULTS: We found high rates of food insecurity: 42% of Hispanic/Latino youth experienced household food insecurity and 33% child food insecurity. Moreover, 10% lived in a very low food secure household. Compared with their food secure peers, Hispanic/Latino youth in food insecure households experienced greater parent/child acculturative and economic stress and weakened family support systems. Associations of food insecurity with health outcomes varied by sex, age, household income, parent nativity, and child acculturative stress levels. CONCLUSIONS: Food insecurity is highly prevalent among Hispanic/Latino youth and has detrimental health implications, especially for girls, older youth, and youth experiencing acculturative stress. Reducing food insecurity and improving health among Hispanic/Latino youth will likely require comprehensive policies that address their multiple migration, familial, and economic stressors.

Decomposing the Household Food Insecurity Gap for Children of U.S.-Born and Foreign-Born Hispanics: Evidence from 1998 to 2011.

Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-K, multivariate analysis, state fixed effects, and regression decomposition, we examine changes in food insecurity for Hispanic kindergarteners between 1998 and 2011, a time period of rapid immigration and political/socio-economic changes. During this time the household food insecurity gap between children of U.S.-born and foreign-born mothers increased by almost 7 percentage points. The factors-child, family, and state-that contributed to the nativity gap differed over time. In both periods, lower familial resources among immigrant families, i.e. endowment effects, contributed to the gap; this was the main component of the gap in 2011 but only one component in 1998. In 1998, heterogeneity in state effects was positively associated with the nativity food insecurity gap. This means that children of foreign-born mothers experience higher household food insecurity than do children of U.S.-born mothers in the same state, even after controlling for child and family characteristics. In 2011, almost half of the gap remained unexplained. This unexplained portion could be driven by differential effects of the Great Recession, growing anti-immigrant sentiment, and/or the relatively large share of unauthorized immigrants in 2011.

Local-Level Immigration Enforcement and Food Insecurity Risk among Hispanic Immigrant Families with Children: National-Level Evidence.

Local-level immigration enforcement generates fear and reduces social service use among Hispanic immigrant families but the health impacts are largely unknown. We examine the consequence of 287(g), the foundational enforcement program, for one critical risk factor of child health-food insecurity. We analyze nationally representative data on households with children from pooled cross-sections of the Current Population Survey Food Supplemental Survey. We identify the influence of 287(g) on food insecurity pre-post-policy accounting for metro-area and year fixed-effects. We find that 287(g) is associated with a 10 percentage point increase in the food insecurity risk of Mexican non-citizen households with children, the group most vulnerable to 287(g). We find no evidence of spillover effects on the broader Hispanic community. Our results suggest that local immigration enforcement policies have unintended consequences. Although 287(g) has ended, other federal-local immigration enforcement partnerships persist, which makes these findings highly policy relevant.

Reversing welfare reform? Immigrant restoration efforts and food stamp receipt among Mexican immigrant families.

The safety net that immigrants face today differs significantly from the immediate post-Welfare Reform era in terms of eligibility and economic context. To inform debates on immigrant access to the safety net, this paper examines implications of the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, which restored food stamp eligibility to nearly two-thirds of immigrants who lost eligibility under Welfare Reform. Using data from the 1995-2013 Current Population Survey and a difference-in-difference design, I examine how restoration efforts have influenced food stamp participation and food insecurity rates among low-income Mexican immigrant households with children. I then examine trends in food stamp receipt across policy and economic changes since Welfare Reform. Overall, results suggest that immigrant restoration efforts have reversed some but not all of the negative consequences of Welfare Reform and that immigrant households' use of food stamps has increased, particularly in the wake of the Great Recession.

The Academic Achievement of Limited English Proficient (LEP) Youth in New and Established Immigrant States: Lessons from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The dramatic growth and dispersal of immigrant families has changed the face of public education at a time when states are experiencing increased school accountability pressures under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and its recent successor the Every Student Succeeds Act. Of particular concern is how these demographic shifts affect the academic well-being of Limited English Proficient (LEP) youth, the protected sub-group that most directly targets children from immigrant families. Using individual-level data from the National Association of Educational Progress, we examine how 8th grade test scores of LEP youth differ across new and established immigrant destination states. Results show that achievement for LEP youth is higher in new than in established immigrant states but that this advantage is not consistent across ethnic/racial groups. LEP youth in new immigrant states benefit from more favorable demographic characteristics and more family and school resources, but these differences only explain a small portion of the achievement gap.

The Decade of Immigrant Dispersion and Growth: A Cohort Analysis of Children of Immigrants' Educational Experiences 1990-2002.

The 1990s marked the beginning of a new era of immigration in terms of volume and settlement patterns and also witnessed significant changes in the social contexts confronting immigrants. These changes could have significant repercussions for immigrant youth. While previous research on high school dropout behavior suggests immigrant youth are faring better in US schools, our research provides a less optimistic outlook. Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study (1988) and Educational Longitudinal Study (2002), we use multivariate analysis, regression decomposition and fixed effect models to examine how reading and math test scores of children of immigrants changed during the 1990s.

How states can reduce the dropout rate for undocumented immigrant youth: the effects of in-state resident tuition policies.

As of December 2011, 13 states have adopted an in-state resident tuition (IRT) policy that provides in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants and several other states are considering similar legislation. While previous research focuses on how IRT policies affect college entry and attainment, this study examines the effect these policies have on high school dropout behavior. Using the Current Population Survey (CPS) and difference-in-difference models, this paper examines whether IRT policies reduce the likelihood of dropping out of high school for Mexican foreign-born non-citizens (FBNC), a proxy for undocumented youth. The policy is estimated to cause an eight percentage point reduction in the proportion that drops out of high school. The paper develops an integrated framework that combines human capital theory with segmented assimilation theory to provide insight into how IRT policies influence student motivation and educational attainment at the high school level.

The Academic Adaptation of Children of Immigrants in New and Established Settlement States: The Role of Family, Schools, and Neighborhoods.

The dispersion of immigrants has challenged educators in new immigrant destinations to adapt to the needs of their first cohorts of children of immigrants. This paper evaluates how families, schools, and neighborhoods shape the academic adaptation of immigrants' children in new and established immigrant states. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) from 2002, the paper examines how 10th grade math and reading test scores differ across three settlement locations: established, new, and other immigrant states. Results indicate that achievement in math and reading is highest in new immigrant states. While demographic differences between settlement locations largely explained differences in achievement, families and schools in new immigrant states also strongly influenced achievement.

Race, secondary school course of study, and college type.

Race shapes many aspects of students' high school experiences relevant to post-secondary educational attainment. We examine the racially-specific effects of high school course of study on type of college attended, whether two-year or four-year, using NELS 1988-2000 and a comprehensive measure of course intensity derived from students' patterns of course-taking. Results include the presence of racially-specific effects of high school course of study, with racial/ethnic minority students in the middle course intensity ranges more likely to attend four-year college than Whites with similar coursework. Using a theory of racialized meritocracy, we also find that educational expectations mediate the relationships among race, course of study, and post-secondary attendance differently for students of different racial groups, such that they play a larger role in mediating the relationship between course of study and post-secondary attendance for White students.

Fitting in: the roles of social acceptance and discrimination in shaping the daily psychological well-being of Latino youth.

OBJECTIVES: We examine how acculturation experiences such as discrimination and social acceptance influence the daily psychological well-being of Latino youth living in newly emerging and historical receiving immigrant communities. METHODS: We use data on 557 Latino youth enrolled in high school in Los Angeles or in rural or urban North Carolina. RESULTS: Compared to Latino youth in Los Angeles, Latino youth in urban and rural North Carolina experienced higher levels of daily happiness, but also experienced higher levels of daily depressive and anxiety symptoms. Differences in nativity status partially explained location differences in youths' daily psychological well-being. Discrimination and daily negative ethnic treatment worsened, whereas social acceptance combined with daily positive ethnic treatment and ethnic and family identification improved, daily psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis contributes to understanding the acculturation experiences of immigrant youth and the roles of social context in shaping adolescent mental health.

Depression and anxiety among first-generation immigrant Latino youth: key correlates and implications for future research.

We examined how the migration and acculturation experiences of first-generation Latino youth contributed to their psychological well-being. Data came from the LAMHA (Latino Adolescent Migration, Health, and Adaptation) study, which surveyed 281 first-generation Latino immigrant youth, ages 12 to 19. Using logistic regression, we evaluated how migration stressors (i.e., traumatic events, choice of migration, discrimination, and documentation status) and migration supports (i.e. family and teacher support, acculturation, and personal-motivation) were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety. We found that migration stressors increased the risk of both depressive symptoms and anxiety. Time in the United States and support from family and teachers reduced the risk of depressive symptoms and anxiety. Compared with documented adolescents, undocumented adolescents were at greater risk of anxiety, and children in mixed-status families were at greater risk of anxiety and marginally greater risk of depressive symptoms.

Fitting In: The Roles of Social Acceptance and Discrimination in Shaping the Academic Motivations of Latino Youth in the U.S. Southeast.

Using data on 459 Latino 9(th) graders from the LA-SIAA and the NC-SIAA studies, we evaluate the specific educational values and beliefs that motivate the academic achievement of Latino youth and contrast the school experiences of Latino youth in an emerging Latino community, North Carolina, with the school experiences of youth living in a traditional settlement community, Los Angeles. Despite their greater fears of discrimination, we find that Latino youth in North Carolina are more academically motivated than their peers in Los Angeles. This is partially because they are more likely to be immigrants. Being an immigrant, having a stronger sense of ethnic identification, and having a stronger sense of family obligation were each linked to a more positive view of school environments. Therefore, these factors each partially explained the immigrant advantage in academic motivation and helped to counter the harmful effects of discrimination on academic motivation.