By Martha Morales Hernandez, Josefina Flores Morales, and Laura E. Enriquez in Society & Mental Health (2024)
We examine to what extent engaging in three acts of resistance is associated with depression and anxiety symptomatology. We find that students with higher rates of political engagement and critical consciousness raising report higher depression and anxiety symptomatology. Findings suggest that structural approaches to studying mental health must also consider immigrants’ agency and efforts to navigate, respond to, and challenge their marginalization.
Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Undocumented College Students
By Cecilia Ayón, Basia D. Ellis, Melissa J. Hagan, Laura E. Enriquez, and Carly Offidani-Bertrand in Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology ( 2024) (open access version)
We examine how various risk and protective factors associated with undocumented status are associated with students’ propensity to seek professional mental health services. We find that greater level of mental health symptoms and perceived mental health need, and greater use of campus-wide resources and undocumented student services predicted greater likelihood of using on-campus mental health services. Greater perceptions of social exclusion due to the immigration policy context predicted lower use of mental health services.
By Melissa Hagan, Martha Morales Hernandez, Laura E. Enriquez, and Cecilia Ayón in Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2024)
We examine the association between self/parental immigration status and suicidal and self-harm ideation (SI) disparities among Latinx undocumented students, U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents. We find that rates of SI were significantly higher among undocumented students and US citizens with undocumented parents. Further immigration policy-related social exclusion and discrimination mediated self/parental immigration status differences in SI. Greater campus belongingness was associated with a lower likelihood of endorsing SI for all students regardless of immigration status or legal vulnerability factors.
By Victoria E. Rodriguez, Laura E. Enriquez, Cecilia Ayón, and Annie Ro in Journal of Health and Social Behavior (2023)
We examine the association between perceived immigration-related discrimination and mental health outcomes among students who are undocumented or are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents and explore the process through which they are linked. We find an association between immigration-related discrimination and increased levels of depression and anxiety. However, this relationship did not vary by self and parental immigration status, which may be the result of students’ internalization of vicarious discrimination through their parents and community members.
By Laura E. Enriquez, Alberto E. Morales, Victoria E. Rodriguez, Karina Chavarria, and Annie Ro in Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2023)
We examine whether and how self and parental immigration status contributed to Latina/o/x college students’ mental health and pandemic stressors during the initial months of the pandemic. Quantitative analyses revealed that the pandemic produced widespread negative mental health effects but the severity of these effects did not differ by self/parental immigration status. Qualitative analyses suggest that the high-stress nature of the pandemic elevated mental distress across all student groups, but the structural exclusion of undocumented immigrants contributed to unique experiences of stress among Latina/o/x undocumented students and U.S. citizen students with undocumented parents when compared to U.S. citizen students with lawfully present parents.
By Monica Cornejo, Cecilia Ayón, and Laura E. Enriquez in Journal of Applied Communication Research (2022) (open access version)
We examine the heterogeneity of undocumented college students’ advocacy communication by identifying profiles of undocumented college students based on their participation in various advocacy communication strategies and assessing how these advocacy profiles are associated with health (i.e. anxiety, depression, and self-rated health). Results identify four subgroups based on undocumented students’ patterns of participation in six types of advocacy communication strategies. Importantly, frequent advocators report poor health outcomes compared to the other profiles.
By Annie Ro, Victoria E. Rodriguez, and Laura E. Enriquez in BMC Public Health (2021)
We estimate the odds of mental or physical health being affected “a great deal” by COVID by immigration group and then examined whether this was moderated by campus belonging or resource use. U.S. citizen students with undocumented parents were least likely to report COVID-related mental and physical health effects. Undocumented students and U.S. citizen students whose parents have lawful immigration status did not differ in their COVID-related physical and mental health. For all students, more campus resource use and higher campus belonging were associated with negative mental and physical health effects.
By Sharon Velarde Pierce, Alein Y. Haro, Cecilia Ayón, and Laura E. Enriquez in Journal of Latinos and Education (2021) (open access version)
We examine whether multiple dimensions of legal vulnerability are associated with increased emotional distress among undocumented students and whether social support moderates this relationship. We find that legal vulnerabilities, including discrimination, social exclusion, the threat of deportation, and economic insecurity, and social support have direct effects on depression and anxiety symptomatology. The moderating effects of social support are only partially supported.
COVID on Campus: Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Undocumented College Students
By Laura E. Enriquez, William E. Rosales, Karina Chavarria, Martha Morales Hernandez, and Mercedes Valadez in AERA Open (2021)
We examine the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on undocumented college students. Qualitative findings show that immigration status exacerbated the negative economic effects of the pandemic, leading to severe financial strains that had cascading negative effects on undocumented students’ academics and health. Regression analyses of survey data confirm the strong association between students’ preexisting economic insecurity and negative effects of the pandemic. Legal vulnerability and family strains moderated this relationship, but campus environment had little effect.
Beyond Access: Psychosocial Barriers to Undocumented Students’ Use of Mental Health Services
By Biblia Cha, Laura E. Enriquez and Annie Ro in Social Science & Medicine (2019) (open access version)
We examine how immigration status hinders mental health service utilization in the absence of barriers related to eligibility and insurance coverage. We find that undocumented immigration status informs mental health-related illness cognitions to negatively affect students’ ability to assess their own mental health and need for services.
By Laura E. Enriquez, Martha Morales Hernandez, and Annie Ro in Race and Social Problems (2018) (view only version)
We uncover the everyday manifestations of four dimensions of immigrant “illegality”: academic concerns, future concerns, financial concerns, and deportation concerns, and their association with reported stress levels and self-rated health. In a structural equation model, we found academic and future concerns to be significantly associated with higher stress, which was in turn, associated with poorer self-rated health.