An Ecological Model of Mexican Immigration and Mental Health

Abstract

The literature on the relationship between cultural factors and mental health outcomes for immigrant groups has been extensive (e.g., Berry, 1976; 1997; 2004; Sam & Berry, 2006). The complex nature of interacting factors in the immigration and migration processes, however, have just begun to be explored within a broader ecological framework (Acevedo Garcia et al., 2012; Coatsworth, Maldonado-Molina, Pantin, & Szzapocznik, 2005). In light of this, scholars have called for ecological models that incorporate mental health related factors (Coatsworth et al., 2005; Glick, 2010; Yakushko, Watson, & Thompson, 2008). This study explored sociocultural influences as well as engagement with macro systems influencing mental health symptoms. An ecological framework was used to examine the relations among immigration status vulnerability, deportation fear, U.S. acculturation, active coping, social justice advocacy, and mental health symptoms of 214 Mexican and Mexican American adults in the United States. The results showed deportation fear mediated the relationship between immigration status vulnerability and anxiety and depression, such that the more fearful individuals are for deportation, the more mental health problems they will experience. The data did not support the hypothesis that endorsement of U.S. acculturation moderates the relationship between immigration status vulnerability and deportation fear, or that social justice advocacy moderates the relationship between deportation fear and mental health symptoms of depression and anxiety. These results support assessing the influence of immigration status vulnerability and deportation fears related to mental health in research with immigrant groups (Massey & Bartley, 2005; Sullivan & Remh, 2005). Findings indicate the importance of understanding the distal system mechanism(s) by which mental health symptomatology may occur. In practice, results of this study point to holistic assessment of distal variables that may have proximal impacts on symptoms of depression and anxiety for Mexican Americans (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Limitations of this research study and for understanding cultural influences on mental health for Mexicans and Mexican Americans are discussed.