Reproductive outcomes among Mexico-born women in San Diego and Tijuana: testing the migration selectivity hypothesis

Why We Should Care About Regional Origins: Educational Selectivity Among Refugees and Labor Migrants in Western Europe

Immigrant selectivity describes the notion that migrants are not a random sample of the population at origin, but differ in certain traits such as educational attainment from individuals who stay behind. In this article, we move away from group-level descriptions of educational selectivity and measure it as an individual's relative position in the age- and gender-specific educational distribution of the country of origin. We describe the extent of educational selectivity for a selection of Western European destinations as well as a selection of origin groups ranging from recent refugee to labor migrant populations. By contrasting refugees to labor migrants, we address longstanding assumptions about typical differences in the degree of selectivity between different types of immigrants. According to our findings, there are few and only minor differences between refugee and labor migrants. However, these differences vary; and there are labor migrant groups that score similar or lower on selectivity than do the refugees covered in this study. Selectivity differences between refugees and labor migrants therefore seem less prominent than arguments in the literature suggest. Another key finding is that every origin group is composed of varying proportions of positively and negatively selected individuals. In most cases, the origin groups cover the whole spectrum of selectivity, so that characterizing them as either predominantly positively or negatively selected does not seem adequate. Furthermore, we show that using country-level educational distributions as opposed to sub-national regional-level distributions can lead to inaccurate measurements of educational selectivity. This problem does not occur universally, but only under certain conditions. That is, when high levels of outmigration from sub-national regions in which economic opportunities are considerably above or below the country average, measurement inaccuracy exceeds ignorable levels. In instances where researchers are not able to use sub-national regional measures, we provide them with practical guidance in the form of pre-trained machine-learning tools to assess the direction and the extent of the measurement inaccuracy that results from relying on country-level as opposed to sub-national regional-level educational distributions.

The Other Side of the Paradox: The Risk of Low Birth Weight among Infants of Migrant and Nonmigrant Households within Mexico

The main aim of this study is to understand how the international migration process affects the risk of low birth weight among Mexican-born infants using the ENADID 1997 (Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica), a nationally representative survey of the Mexican population. The total sample includes 23,607 infants. We employ logistic regression to estimate models in which migration status is included as a risk factor for low birth weight. The analysis demonstrates that membership in a migrant household provides protection from the risk of low birth weight largely through the receipt of remittances. In light of this evidence, it is particularly important that international migration be recognized as one of the processes that has a positive and significant effect on perinatal outcomes in both countries of origin and in countries of destination.

Does Selective Migration Matter? Explaining Ethnic Disparities in Educational Attainment among Immigrants' Children

Understanding why some national-origin groups excel in school while others do not is an enduring sociological puzzle. This paper examines whether the degree of immigrants' educational selectivity – that is, how immigrants differ educationally from non-migrants in the home country – influences educational outcomes among groups of immigrants' children. This study uses published international data and U.S. Census and Current Population Survey data on 32 immigrant groups to show that as immigrants' educational selectivity increases, the college attainment of the second generation also increases. Moreover, the more positive selection of Asian immigrants helps explain their second generations' higher college attendance rates as compared to Europeans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Latinos. Thus, the findings suggest that inequalities in relative pre-migration educational attainments among immigrants are often reproduced among the next generation in the United States.

Variation in Birth Outcomes by Mother's Country of Birth Among Hispanic Women in the United States, 2013

OBJECTIVES

Despite knowledge that the Hispanic population is growing in the United States and that birth outcomes may vary by maternal country of birth, data on birth outcomes by maternal country of birth among Hispanic women are scant. We compared the rates of 3 birth outcomes for infants born in the United States-preterm birth, low birth weight, and small for gestational age-between foreign-born Hispanic women and US-born Hispanic women, and then we examined these birth outcomes by mother's country of birth for foreign-born Hispanic women.

METHODS

Using the 2013 natality file from the National Vital Statistics System of the National Center for Health Statistics, we examined data on the 3 birth outcomes and maternal characteristics by maternal country of birth. We used log binomial models to calculate unadjusted and adjusted relative risks for preterm birth, low birth weight, and small for gestational age for US-born Hispanic women compared with foreign-born Hispanic women. We also compared the relative risk of each adverse birth outcome for foreign-born Hispanic women by country of birth.

RESULTS

US-born Hispanic women had higher rates of the 3 birth outcomes than did foreign-born Hispanic women (preterm birth: 8.0% vs 7.0%; low birth weight: 6.1% vs 5.2%; small for gestational age: 9.2% vs 7.9%). These higher rates persisted after adjusting for maternal characteristics. The rates for these 3 birth outcomes varied significantly by country of birth for foreign-born Hispanic women, with Puerto Rican women consistently having the poorest birth outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrated heterogeneity in rates of adverse birth outcomes by country of birth for foreign-born Hispanic women. Presenting rates for foreign-born mothers as a group masks differences by country. To understand possible changes in data on birth outcomes, states should stratify data by maternal country of birth.

Are Immigrants Healthier? The Case of Depression among Filipino Americans

Immigration has fundamentally changed American society by increasing racial and ethnic diversity. Yet, our knowledge of the relationship between immigrant status and mental health remains limited. This study provides evidence that Filipino American immigrants have significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than Filipinos born in the United States, net of gender, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, and place of residence. I also examine the mediating effects of individualism, collectivism, ethnic identification, and perceived racial/ethnic discrimination to understand why immigrants are healthier. Furthermore, my results suggest that age at immigration warrants more attention. Immigrating during childhood predicts significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms in adulthood than immigrating after childhood, independent of the duration of residence in the United States. Although this study is specific to Filipino Americans, it has implications for theories about selective migration and the social psychological ramifications of adapting to American culture as a racial/ethnic minority.

Reproductive Health of the Rapidly Growing Hispanic Population: Data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 2002

OBJECTIVES

One in five US babies are Hispanic, and many Hispanics are recent immigrants. This study's goal is to compare reproductive health characteristics between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) mothers and to determine whether those characteristics differ by Hispanic birth increases.

METHODS

State-based Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System 2002 data were used to compare Hispanic and NHW mothers of live-born infants overall and in tertiles of states with the highest and lowest Hispanic birth increases during 1998-2002. We calculated crude and adjusted risk ratios (RR) for each characteristic for Hispanics (N=5,104) relative to NHWs (N=22,608) and conducted t-tests to compare the RRs in high and low tertile groups.

RESULTS

Hispanic mothers are younger, of lower socioeconomic status, and less likely to receive early prenatal care. They smoke and drink less, breastfeed their infants more often, and report less preterm labor and hypertension during pregnancy, but may be at greater risk of gestational diabetes. When compared to states with smallest birth increases, Hispanics in states with the largest increases are more likely than NHWs to report healthy behavior, e.g., continued breastfeeding and normal BMI. However, they are more likely to report late prenatal care, hospitalization during pregnancy, and low socioeconomic status. A lower risk of hypertension is reported only by Hispanics in states with small birth increases.

CONCLUSIONS

Reproductive health characteristics among Hispanic and NHW women differ, but Hispanic women more closely resemble NHW women in states with small increases in Hispanic births. Percent increase in Hispanic births may be a useful measure for states planning future program needs among Hispanic women and infants.

The Effects of Years Lived in the United States on the General Health Status of California’s Foreign-Born Populations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of immigrant status and years lived in the United States on the general health status of California's foreign-born populations. Two models were constructed using California's aggregate adult population and the adult foreign-born population. A binary logistic regression was conducted using data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey. California's immigrant populations were found to enjoy a self-assessed health advantage compared to California's US-born population. The results present evidence of a downward trend in self-assessed health amongst California's foreign-born population associated with increased years lived in country. The initial health advantage found among California's foreign-born appears to function mainly through socio-economic factors. These results suggest that the deterioration in health associated with increased years lived in the US may be an effect of immigrants' exposure to California's environmental determinants of human health rather that the loss of culture-specific protective factors.

Racial and ethnic differences in perinatal mortality: the role of fetal death

PURPOSE

We investigate whether variations in infant mortality rates among racial/ethnic groups could be explained by variations in fetal mortality rates where relatively higher infant mortality rates may correspond to lower fetal mortality rates due to possible systematic differences in reporting of fetal death compared to live births.

METHODS

Using US perinatal data from 1995 to 1999, we calculated crude mortality rates, birth weight-specific fetal and hebdomadal mortality rates, risks of perinatal death, and the risk of being classified as a fetal death versus other period death among infants born to Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic mothers.

RESULTS

Two-fold disparities between Whites and Blacks persist for all mortality categories. Black low birth-weight deliveries, compared to Whites, have perinatal advantages in both fetal and hebdomadal periods. Hispanics were less likely than Whites to be reported as a fetal versus a hebdomadal death.

CONCLUSIONS

While these data suggest some underreporting of Black fetal deaths, they provide little evidence that Black-White disparities in infant mortality are a function of variations in classifying a death occurring at delivery as either a fetal death or as a live birth-infant death. These data suggest that the lack of a White-Hispanic disparity in fetal mortality rates may be influenced by underreporting.

Does community context influence reproductive outcomes of Mexican origin women in San Diego, California?

An increasing body of literature documenting what has become known as "the Epidemiological Paradox" has shown that some immigrant groups to the United States tend to have healthier birth outcomes than would be expected given their sociodemographic profiles. Furthermore, the children of these immigrants do not seem to enjoy the same advantage in reproductive health that their parents did. This phenomenon, though amply documented in the literature, has not been sufficiently explained. We investigate the role of assimilation in this paradox, and we do so within a spatial framework. We examine the effect of residence in a Mexican enclave in the attenuation of risk of low birth weight (LBW) for Mexican-origin mothers in San Diego County, California. We find that Mexican-origin women do seem to enjoy a reduced risk of giving birth to an LBW baby when they live in a Mexican enclave.

Explaining the birth weight paradox: Latina immigrants' perceptions of resilience and risk

In the US, prenatal care is positively associated with improved birth outcomes. However, among Mexican-born Latinos, rates of low birth weight are lower than those of US-born counterparts despite the fact that recently arrived Latino immigrants are less likely to have received adequate prenatal care. The "birth weight paradox," identified through analysis of the HHANES, appears to hold constant across variations in age, marital status or educational attainment. The authors explore Latina immigrant's perceptions of resilience factors related to these better birth outcomes through focused group interviews, photonarratives, and documentation of local kin networks. The women's responses are grouped into five resilience factors and one risk complex that have the potential to further explain the HHANES findings. Women's responses, the stories of their photographs, and kin networks are presented. Knowledge of these protective and risk factors can be useful to health professionals and Latino advocacy groups in the design of community-based interventions that protect health status and promote the practice of protective health behaviors within immigrant families and communities.

ETHNIC RESIDENTIAL PATTERNS AS PREDICTORS OF INTRA-URBAN CHILD MORTALITY INEQUALITY IN ACCRA, GHANA

As cities of developing nations absorb an increasing fraction of the world's population increase, questions have arisen about the potential for emerging inequalities in health within places that are already suffering from inadequate infrastructure. In this paper we explore the pattern of child mortality inequalities (as a proxy for overall health levels) within a large sub-Saharan African city-Accra, Ghana-and then we examine the extent to which existing residential patterns by ethnicity may be predictive of any observed intra-urban inequalities in child mortality. We find that the spatial variability in child mortality in Accra is especially associated with the pattern of residential separation of the Ga from other ethnic groups, with the Ga having higher levels of mortality than other ethnic groups. Being of Ga ethnicity exposes a woman and her children to characteristics of the places in Accra where the Ga live, in which one-room dwellings and poor infrastructure predominate. At the individual level, we find that regardless of where a woman lives, if she is of Ga ethnicity and/or is non-Christian, and if she is not married, her risks of having lost a child are elevated.

Ethnic variation in health and the determinants of health among Latinos

The purpose of this research is to document and explain ethnic variation in health among Latino adults in the United States. Results of analyses of data pooled from the 1997-2001 National Health Interview surveys reveal that health patterns are clearly different among Latino ethnic groups. Mexicans have health advantages, whereas Puerto Ricans experience health disparities. Cubans and Dominicans reveal a mix of health disparities and advantages, depending on the health outcome. The effects of social determinants of health are also contingent upon ethnicity. For example, worse health is associated with higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES) and acculturation among Mexicans, but with lower levels of SES and acculturation among Latinos whose origins are from Caribbean islands. We conclude that racial/ethnic comparative health research should avoid pan-ethnic groupings, and explicitly acknowledge ethnic group distinctiveness.