Journal of Latina/o Psychology
Volume 6, Issue 3, 2018, Pages 159-174

Immigration trauma among hispanic youth: Missed by trauma assessments and predictive of depression and PTSD symptoms (Article)

de Arellano M.A. , Andrews A.R., III , Reid-Quiñones K. , Vasquez D. , Doherty L.S. , Danielson C.K. , Rheingold A.*
  • a National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
  • b National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
  • c Dee Norton Lowcountry Children's Center, Charleston, SC, United States
  • d South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, United States, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, United States
  • e National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
  • f National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
  • g National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States

Abstract

Few quantitative studies have examined the rate of exposure to traumatic events during immigration among Hispanics or its relation to mental health outcomes. Failing to capture traumatic events that occur during immigration may impede investigations of trauma and related mental health disparities with Hispanics. To better understand the need for immigration-related trauma assessment, we conducted interviews with 131 immigrant Hispanic youth. First, youth completed a comprehensive trauma assessment interview. Items were added to the interview to assess whether each traumatic event occurred during the process of immigration. An immigration-focused module was then added to the end of the assessment. A substantial minority of youths reported experiencing a traumatic event during immigration (n = 39; 29.8%). The majority of these were not captured by the standard trauma assessment (n = 32; 82.1% of those with in-transit trauma). Of these, the majority stated that the process of immigration itself was traumatic but had not indicated experiencing any event assessed during the standard trauma assessment (n = 28; 87.5% of those with unidentified in-transit trauma). The traumatic events that were not captured during the standard trauma assessment significantly predicted both depression (p < .001) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (p = .012). Results suggest that standard trauma assessments may not capture traumatic events that occur during immigration for Hispanic youth. Failing to capture these events during trauma assessment may have large implications for research on trauma-related mental health disparities, because the events that were not captured overlapped significantly with depression and PTSD. © 2017 American Psychological Association.

Author Keywords

Latino youth Depression PTSD Immigration trauma

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050316950&doi=10.1037%2flat0000090&partnerID=40&md5=044340c8468a73f4ea064bcd5184796c
DOI: 10.1037/lat0000090
ISSN: 21681678
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English