Más que palabras: Understanding the mental health and behavioral consequences of sociodemographic risk and deportation fears in Latinx families.

OBJECTIVE

Exponential increases in deportation and negative public discourse have resulted in heightened fears of profiling and deportation among Latinx immigrant families in the United States. Deportation fears could compound the inequalities Latinx families face, worsening mental and behavioral health. To better understand the mental health consequences of the climate of deportation concerns among low-income Latinx mothers in the United States, we conducted a linguistic analysis of interviews of Latinx mothers' parenting experiences, examining their use of words related to deportation fears (e.g., ). We examined the interaction of sociodemographic risk with maternal deportation fears in predicting maternal and youth mental health.

METHOD

Recent immigrant Latinx mothers ( = 160) and youth ( = 12.88, = 1.73) completed the Parent Development Interview-Revised (Slade et al., 2004), analyzed using a deportation fears custom dictionary (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count; Pennebaker et al., 2003). Mothers completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 2001); youth completed the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991). Cumulative sociodemographic risk was assessed using a composite score of six risk variables.

RESULTS

Regressions revealed significant Sociodemographic Risk × Deportation Fear interactions for maternal depression ( = .01) and youth depression ( < .01) but not for maternal anxiety, youth anxiety, or aggression. As sociodemographic risk increased, associations between deportation fears and psychopathology decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

The adverse impact of maternal deportation fears on mental health is visible only when demographic stress is lower. Deportation fears may increase mental health risk, potentially reducing treatment seeking among families previously at lower risk. Findings underscore the importance of policy and sociocultural shifts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).