Do Changes to Legal Status Impact Mental Health Among Latino Immigrant Young Adults?

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 05. Immigration and Acculturation

Abstract

Preexisting research finds that immigrant legal status detrimentally impacts mobility among undocumented immigrants, yet few studies have tested the impacts of legal status on mental health outcomes. Most importantly, we know very little about how changes to legal status impact mental health. Announced in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allows eligible undocumented youth to apply for temporary lawful status. Drawing on survey data from Latino immigrant young adults in California, we analyze the predictors of three mental health outcomes: stress, negative emotions, and deportation worry. We examine these outcomes at two points in time—before and after a transition from undocumented to lawfully present status—comparing those who received DACA with those who did not. Results show that past mental health (when all respondents were undocumented) is predicted primarily by socioeconomic status. However, current mental health is consistently predicted by DACA status, suggesting that immigrant legal status is a significant predictor of psychological well-being. Results clearly demonstrate, for the first time, the positive emotional consequences of transitioning out of undocumented legal status for immigrant young adults.

Author

• Whitney Nicole Laster Pirtle, University of California - Merced