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Immigrant Parent Legal Status and Children’s Health in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth)

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Abstract

We assess how immigrant parent legal status shapes children’s physical and mental health. Using the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth—a multi-site dataset—we evaluated mean differences in multiple physical and mental health indicators and parents’ and children’s stress and resilience by parents’ (primarily mothers’) legal status (N = 1177). We estimated regression models of two overall child health outcomes—allostatic load and any internalized disorder. Average allostatic load was 28% higher (0.36 standard deviations) and average prevalence of any internalizing disorder was 16% points greater for children of foreign-born unauthorized versus US-born parents. Higher levels of socioeconomic and acculturative stress contributed to children of foreign-born unauthorized parents’ heightened health risk, while resilience factors—parental health and familial support—protected their health. Children with unauthorized immigrant parents experience both negative physical and mental health outcomes that can have potential long-term costs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Hispanic Community Children’s Health/Study of Latino. Youth project for data access and support. The views and any errors expressed here are our own. We thank Ashley Marchante for coding assistance. We are also grateful to the Carolina Population Center and its NIH/NICHD center grant (P2C HD050924) for general support. The SOL Youth study was supported by grant number R01HL102130 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The children in SOL Youth are drawn from the study of adults: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, which was supported by contracts from the NHLBI to the University of North Carolina (N01-HC65233), University of Miami (N01-HC65234), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (N01-HC65235), Northwestern University (N01-HC65236), and San Diego State University (N01-HC65237). The following Institutes/Centers/Offices contribute to the HCHS/SOL through a transfer of funds to the NHLBI: National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communications Disorders, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Office of Dietary Supplements. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Additional support was provided by the Life Course Methodology Core (LCMC) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the New York Regional Center for Diabetes Translation Research (P30 DK111022-8786 and P30 DK111022) through funds from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, University of North Carolina Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Stephanie Potochnick

  2. Public Policy Department, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Ian Mikkelsen

  3. Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Linda C. Gallo

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Carmen R. Isasi

  5. Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Franklyn Gonzalez II

  6. Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Krista M. Perreira

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  1. Stephanie Potochnick
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  2. Ian Mikkelsen
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  3. Linda C. Gallo
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  4. Carmen R. Isasi
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  5. Franklyn Gonzalez II
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  6. Krista M. Perreira
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Correspondence to Stephanie Potochnick.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 5 and 6

Table 5 Characteristics of Hispanic/Latino youth by parental immigrant background
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Table 6 Interaction associations with Hispanic/Latino youth's health (N = 1177)
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Potochnick, S., Mikkelsen, I., Gallo, L.C. et al. Immigrant Parent Legal Status and Children’s Health in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth). J Immigrant Minority Health 26, 461–473 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-023-01573-3

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