San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, California, USA.
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
J Trauma Stress. 2017 Oct;30(5):453-462. doi: 10.1002/jts.22216.
Undocumented immigration often presents with multiple stressors and contextual challenges, which may diminish mental health. This study is the first to provide population-based estimates for the prevalence of traumatic events and its association to clinically significant psychological distress among undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States. This cross-sectional study used respondent-driven sampling to obtain and analyze data from clinical interviews with 248 undocumented Mexican immigrants residing in high-risk neighborhoods near the California-Mexico border. Overall, 82.7% of participants reported a history of traumatic events, with 47.0% of these meeting the criteria for clinically significant psychological distress. After controlling for relevant covariates, having experienced material deprivation, odds ratio (OR) = 2.26, 95% CI [1.18, 4.31], p = .013, and bodily injury, OR = 2.96, 95% CI [1.50, 5.83], p = .002, and not having a history of deportation, OR = 0.36, 95% CI [0.17, 0.79], p = .011, were associated with clinically significant psychological distress. These results support the need to revisit health and immigration policies and to devise solutions grounded in empirical evidence aimed at preventing the negative effects of trauma and psychological distress in this population.
无证移民常常面临多种压力和背景挑战，这可能会降低他们的心理健康水平。本研究首次提供了基于人群的估计值，用于衡量无证墨西哥移民在美国经历创伤事件的普遍性及其与临床显著心理困扰之间的关联。这项横断面研究使用 respondent-driven sampling 方法，从居住在加利福尼亚-墨西哥边境附近高风险社区的 248 名无证墨西哥移民的临床访谈中获取和分析数据。总体而言，82.7%的参与者报告有创伤事件史，其中 47.0%的人符合临床显著心理困扰的标准。在控制了相关协变量后，经历过物质剥夺的人（OR=2.26，95%CI[1.18,4.31]，p=.013）和身体伤害（OR=2.96，95%CI[1.50,5.83]，p=.002）的人以及没有被驱逐出境史的人（OR=0.36，95%CI[0.17,0.79]，p=.011）与临床显著心理困扰相关。这些结果支持有必要重新审视卫生和移民政策，并制定基于实证证据的解决方案，以防止这一人群受到创伤和心理困扰的负面影响。
