A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Legal Liminality’s Psychological Impact on Immigrant Parent Mental Health and Well-Being

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Approximately 16.6 million people in the U.S. are members of mixed-status families composed of individuals with unauthorized legal status and U.S. citizens or individuals with documented legal status (Enriquez, 2015). Legal vulnerability has a significant, intergenerational impact on immigrant families’ health and wellbeing, as these statuses create barriers to accessing healthcare, education, and stable jobs. These barriers directly affect the developmental social ecologies of mixed-status families, posing additional challenges for unauthorized parents to take care of themselves and their children (Suarez-Orozco, Yoshikawa, Teranishi, & Suarez-Orozco, 2011).
Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined the impact of diverse legal statuses and migration experiences on parenting, psychological functioning and well-being among immigrant parents. 27 immigrant caregivers (either Spanish or Portuguese-speaking), participated from an urban community, identifying broadly as Latinx from a variety of countries of origin (44% undocumented, 59% Female, Mage = 37.6 years, SD = 8.99). Caregivers reported on their own trauma, psychological functioning, resilience, and parenting stress. Each participant then completed an extensive 1-hour interview to share their experiences as caregivers in mixed-legal status families. Analyses included an exploratory person-centered latent cluster analysis to determine whether meaningful profiles of caregivers emerged from our mental health and wellbeing indicators. This was followed by qualitative case study analyses of 4 case exemplars of the clusters.
Two latent clusters of immigrant caregivers emerged (see table for quantitative results).
Given that parenting levels of distress did not align with other forms of psychological distress, we looked for qualitative exemplars of these patterns of their lived experiences around parenting. This qualitative analysis revealed that individuals from both clusters experienced significant adversity before, during, and after migration, including current fears regarding their legal status. Notably, a primary concern for individuals in Cluster 2 was related to their roles as caretakers for their children (e.g., sending money home, staying in the U.S. for their children despite their limited rights). Although serving in this role was immensely stressful for Cluster 2 parents, this also served as a source of meaning in their lives, which fostered their higher levels of resilience and better mental health outcomes.
Given these findings, we named Cluster 1 the “Personalizing Stress Cluster”, because the stress of immigrant and/or legal status manifested in a personal way through heightened PTSD symptoms and general psychological distress as a result of pre, during, and post-migration experiences. Individuals in Cluster 2 comprised the “Meaning-making Cluster” – the larger of the two clusters - because these individuals placed their children at the forefront of their worries, focusing on their role as parents to foster resilience. Individuals who match the “Personalizing stress cluster” profile characteristics may be lacking a sense of purpose in their role as parents, and may benefit from additional sources of support, such as values-based therapy, to foster a sense of meaning-making and resilience. Finally, this study demonstrates that a major source of personal and parental distress for both groups was related to legal status, highlighting the psychological need for systemic changes to create pathways to citizenship for immigrant families.

Authors

• Regina Roberg, Suffolk University
  Presenting Author

• Tamara Camargo, Suffolk University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Isis Garcia-Rodriguez, Virginia Commonwealth University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amy Kerivan Marks, Wellesley College
  Non-Presenting Author