Immigrant-Related Stress and Child Somatization: Examining the Moderation Effect of Voluntary Engagement Coping

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Prior research suggests that immigrant-related and economic stress can have a significant impact on the overall wellbeing of children of Latino immigrant families (Mendoza et al., 2017). Moreover, studies have shown higher prevalence in somatic symptoms within Latino youth than in children of European background (Pina & Silverman, 2004). This is important because the foreign-born population comprised 13.7% of the total U.S. population, and within the foreign-born population, 44% report being of Hispanic or Latino descent. (Batalova et. al, 2020). The U.S. Census Bureau reported that a total of 20 million children come from a family with at least one foreign-born parent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Many Latino immigrants and their children are exposed to a large array of stressors, and these stressors often lead to various negative mental health outcomes (Santiago et. al, 2018). However, few studies have examined how engagement coping (e.g. primary control, secondary control) can buffer the impact of immigrant-related stress on child somatization in Latino immigrant families. Both primary control coping (e.g., problem solving) and secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive restructuring) have been associated with better mental health generally though limited research has focused on somatization (Compas et al., 2017). The current study examines how immigrant-related stress and engagement coping are associated with somatization among Latino children. In addition, we test whether engagement coping moderates the association between immigrant-related stress and somatization.

In this study, each family had at least one child, ages 6-10, and family income at or below 150% of the federal poverty line. Only Mexican immigrant primary caregivers were included, resulting in 93 Mexican immigrant mothers reporting on their child’s coping strategies and family immigrant-related stressors. Data were collected at three time points, every 6 months across 1.5 years. Moderation analyses were conducted with PROCESS (Hayes, 2018).

Longitudinal linear regression analyses examined the effects of T1 immigrant-related stress, T2 primary control coping, & T2 secondary control coping on T3 somatization (controlling for prior levels of somatization). The moderating effect of primary and secondary control coping were also examined. Results indicated a significant main effect of T2 primary control coping (β =-.331, p=.02) and secondary control coping on somatization at T3 (β =.347, p=.01). This illustrates that high reports of primary control coping at T2 indicated lower reports of child somatization at T3. However, contrary to expectations, high reports of secondary control coping at T2 were linked to higher child somatization at T3. Finally, neither type of coping significantly moderated the association between immigrant-related stress and child somatization symptoms.

Discussion of results will include potential explanations regarding the opposite relations exhibited by primary control and secondary control coping on child somatization. For example, it is possible that younger children may not benefit from secondary control coping as much as adolescents or that somatization may look different from other mental health difficulties. Further, implications for intervention and future research will be discussed.

Authors

• Adrian Medina, Loyola University Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Jolie, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susana Sosa, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine Decarlo Santiago, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author