Abstract
The current report describes the results of the first known study examining the impact of parental deportation on the mental health of children using psychometrically reliable and valid assessment instruments. Participants reported on the current internalizing and externalizing problems of children under their care using the Spanish language version of the Child Behavior Checklist and completed a trauma history and demographic questionnaire that asked specifically about parental deportation status. Children with a deported parent (n = 23) were significantly more likely to display externalizing and internalizing problems than children whose parents were not deported or in the process of deportation (n = 52). Associated demographic characteristics and trauma history were controlled in these analyses. The results are discussed in the context of evolving immigration policy in the United States.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
Albores-Gallo, L. L., Lara-Muñoz, C. C., Esperón-Vargas, C. C., Zetina, J., Soriano, A., & Colin, G. (2007). Validez y fiabilidad del CBCL/6-18. Incluye las escalas del DSM. (Spanish). Actas Españolas De Psiquiatria, 35, 393–399.
Baum, J., Jones, R., & Barry, C. (2010). In the child’s best interest? The consequences of losing a lawful immigrant parent to deportation. Retrieved from the University of California Davis Law School website: http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/news/images/childsbestinterest.pdf.
Belskey, J., & Fearon, R. M. (2002). Early attachment security, subsequent maternal sensitivity, and later child development: Does continuity in development depend upon continuity of caregiving? Attachment and Human Development, 4, 361–387.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.
Brabeck, K., & Xu, Q. (2010). The impact of detention and deportation on Latino immigrant children and families: A quantitative exploration. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 32, 341–361.
Bridges, A. J., de Arellano, M. A., Rheingold, A. A., Danielson, C. K., & Silcott, L. (2010). Trauma exposure, mental health, and service utilization rates among immigrant and United States-born Hispanic youth: Results from the Hispanic family study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2, 40–48.
Canavera, K. E., Wilkins, K. C., Pincus, D. B., & Ehrenreich-May, J. T. (2009). Parent-child agreement in the assessment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 909–915.
Chaudry, A., Capps, R., Pedroza, J. M., Castańeda, R. M., Santos, R., & Scott, M. M. (2010). Facing our future: Children in the aftermath of immigration enforcement. The Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412020_FacingOurFuture_final.pdf.
Contreras, J. M., Kerns, K. A., Weimer, B. L., Gentzler, A. L., & Tomich, P. L. (2000). Emotion regulation as a mediator of associations between mother-child attachment and peer relationships in middle childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 111–124.
Dreby, J. (2012). The burden of deportation on children in Mexican immigrant families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 829–845.
Goodvin, R., Meyer, S., Thompson, R. A., & Hayes, R. (2008). Self-understanding in early childhood: Associations with child attachment security and maternal negative affect. Attachment and Human Development, 10, 433–450.
Hartley, A. G., Zakriski, A. L., & Wright, J. C. (2011). Probing the depths of informant discrepancies: Contextual influences on divergence and convergence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40, 54–66.
Henderson, S. W., & Baily, C. D. R. (2013). Parental deportation, families, and mental health. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 52, 451–453.
Hoffman, H. F. (1934). A study of fifty state hospital children. Proceedings of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, 39, 273–282.
Kataoka, S. H., Zhang, L., & Wells, K. B. (2002). Unmet need for mental health care among U.S. children: Variation by ethnicity and insurance status. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1548–1555.
Lester, P., Peterson, K., Reeves, J., Knauss, L., Glover, D., Mogil, C., et al. (2010). The long war and parental combat deployment: Effects on military children and at-home spouses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 310–320.
Murray, J., Farrington, D. P., & Sekol, I. (2012). Children’s antisocial behavior, mental health, drug use, and educational performance after parental incarceration: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 175–210.
North, D. (2011). Just how does an anchor baby anchor the illegal alien parent? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cis.org/north/anchor-baby-mechanisms.
Rubio-Stipec, M. (1990). The internal consistency and concurrent validity of a Spanish translation of the child behavior checklist. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18, 393–406.
Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., Carlson, E. A., & Collins, W. A. (2005). The development of the person: The Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood. New York: Guilford.
Steinberg, A. M., Brymer, M. J., Decker, K. B., & Pynoos, R. S. (2004). The University of California at Los Angeles PTSD stress reaction index. Current Psychiatry Reports, 6, 96–100.
Thompson, R. A., Flood, M. F., & Goodvin, R. (2006). Social support and developmental psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (2nd ed.): Vol. III. Risk, disorder, and adaptation. New York: Wiley.
US Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1110/111018washingtondc.htm.
Wessler, S. F. (2011). U.S. deports 46 K parents with citizen kids in just six months. Retrieved from http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/shocking_data_on_parents_deported_with_citizen_children.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Allen, B., Cisneros, E.M. & Tellez, A. The Children Left Behind: The Impact of Parental Deportation on Mental Health. J Child Fam Stud 24, 386–392 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9848-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9848-5