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Longitudinal Associations Between Immigrant Ethnic Density, Neighborhood Processes, and Latino Immigrant Youth Depression

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Abstract

Depression rates rise in adolescence and the prevalence of depression is higher among Latino adolescents than other race/ethnic groups. Ethnic density among immigrant populations is associated with better health and mental health outcomes among adults, but little is known about its effects among adolescents or its mechanisms. This study examines the pathways by which immigrant density may affect mental health outcomes among Latino youth. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we drew a sample of 2,678 Hispanic youth. Multivariate multilevel logistic regression analyses found that Latino immigrant density predicted lower odds of depression among both male and female immigrant but not non-immigrant Latino adolescents. No mediating effects of neighborhood efficacy, perceived safety or perceived contentment were observed in this study. Results reaffirm the need to further explore the mechanisms through which ethnic density exerts its salubrious effect on immigrant youth mental health.

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Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by Grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from Grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

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  1. School of Social Work, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1010 W. Nevada St., Room 2014, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Meng-Jung Lee & Janet M. Liechty

  2. College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 506 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Janet M. Liechty

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Correspondence to Meng-Jung Lee.

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Lee, MJ., Liechty, J.M. Longitudinal Associations Between Immigrant Ethnic Density, Neighborhood Processes, and Latino Immigrant Youth Depression. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 983–991 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0029-4

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