Recent immigration actions and news and the adjustment of U.S. Latino/a adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: This research describes how family immigrant statuses are related to Latino/a adolescents' responses to recent immigration actions and news and, in turn, adolescent adjustment. METHOD: Study 1 included a school-based sample of 11- to 15-year-olds in suburban Atlanta, Georgia (N = 547); Study 2 included a convenience sample of 15- to 18-year-olds in the Washington, DC area (N = 340). Family immigrant status was defined by adolescents' immigrant generation status in Study 1 and by parent residency status in Study 2. In both studies, a 14-item measure assessed responses to recent immigration actions and news, including psychological worries and behavioral withdrawal. Dependent variables included internalizing and externalizing symptoms, suicidal ideation, e-cigarette use, and alcohol use (Study 1), and alcohol use and depressive symptoms (Study 2). RESULTS: Psychological worry and behavioral withdrawal responses to immigration actions and news were significantly greater among adolescents with foreign-born, compared to U.S.-born, parents (Study 1), and among adolescents with undocumented, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or permanent resident parents, as compared to citizen parents (Study 2). Results from tests of indirect effects indicated that these worries and behavioral withdrawal responses were, in turn, associated with higher levels of adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms, a higher odds of substance use and suicidal ideation (Study 1), and higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms (Study 2). CONCLUSIONS: As 1-quarter of the U.S. child population is Latino/a, there is a need to address immigration threats jeopardizing the adjustment of Latino/a teenagers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Impacts of Immigration Actions and News and the Psychological Distress of U.S. Latino Parents Raising Adolescents.

PURPOSE: U.S. Latino parents of adolescents face unprecedented threats to family stability and well-being due to rapid and far-reaching transformations in U.S. immigration policy. METHODS: Two hundred thirteen Latino parents of adolescents were recruited from community settings in a suburb of a large mid-Atlantic city to complete surveys assessing parents' psychological distress and responses to immigration actions and news. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to describe the prevalence of parents' responses to immigration news and actions across diverse residency statuses. Multiple logistic regression models examined associations between immigration-related impacts and the odds of a parent's high psychological distress. RESULTS: Permanent residents, temporary protected status, and undocumented parents reported significantly more negative immigration impacts on psychological states than U.S. citizens. Parents reporting frequent negative immigration-related impacts had a significantly higher likelihood of high psychological distress than did other parents, and these associations were maintained even when accounting for parents' residency status, gender, education, and experience with deportation or detention. The odds of a parent reporting high psychological distress due to negative immigration impacts ranged from 2.2 (p < .05) to 10.4 (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first empirical accounts of how recent immigration policy changes and news have impacted the lives of Latino families raising adolescent children. Harmful impacts were manifest across a range of parent concerns and behaviors and are strong correlates of psychological distress. Findings suggest a need to consider pathways to citizenship for Latina/o parents so that these parents, many of whom are legal residents, may effectively care for their children.

SAFER Latinos: a community partnership to address contributing factors for Latino youth violence.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a multilevel youth violence prevention effort called SAFER Latinos (Seguridad, Apoyo, Familia, Educacion, y Recursos), a collaboration between The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GWU) and two key Latino community organizations. OBJECTIVES: To implement and evaluate an intervention addressing factors within the social ecology of an immigrant Latino community. METHODS: The intervention includes (1) Social promotores for family outreach and problem resolution; (2) Youth peer advocates at the high school level; (3) a drop-in center with support services for families and youth; and (4) community events, capacity building, and messages. Evaluation includes a baseline and follow-up surveys (N = 1,400) and focus groups. LESSONS LEARNED: (1) Community circumstances change, requiring regular program adaptation. (2) Community interventions with research face potential contradictions in purpose impacting management of the collaboration and model fidelity. (3) Etiological models tied to interventions may have to be revisited owing to changes in the character and dynamics of the immigrant community.