1
|
LeBrón AMW, Schulz AJ, Gamboa C, Reyes A, Viruell-Fuentes E, Israel BA. Mexican-origin women's individual and collective strategies to access and share health-promoting resources in the context of exclusionary immigration and immigrant policies. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:1757. [PMID: 38956532 PMCID: PMC11218332 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-19204-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A growing literature has documented the social, economic, and health impacts of exclusionary immigration and immigrant policies in the early 21st century for Latiné communities in the US, pointing to immigration and immigrant policies as forms of structural racism that affect individual, family, and community health and well-being. Furthermore, the past decade has seen an increase in bi-partisan exclusionary immigration and immigrant policies. Immigration enforcement has been a major topic during the 2024 Presidential election cycle, portending an augmentation of exclusionary policies towards immigrants. Within this context, scholars have called for research that highlights the ways in which Latiné communities navigate exclusionary immigration and immigrant policies, and implications for health. This study examines ways in which Mexican-origin women in a midwestern northern border community navigate restrictive immigration and immigrant policies to access health-promoting resources and care for their well-being. METHODS We conducted a grounded theory analysis drawing on interviews with 48 Mexican-origin women in Detroit, Michigan, who identified as being in the first, 1.5, or second immigrant generation. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish, depending on participants' preferences, and were conducted at community-based organizations or other locations convenient to participants in 2013-2014. RESULTS Women reported encountering an interconnected web of institutional processes that used racializing markers to infer legal status and eligibility to access health-promoting resources. Our findings highlight women's use of both individual and collective action to navigate exclusionary policies and processes, working to: (1) maintain access to health-promoting resources; (2) limit labeling and stigmatization; and (3) mitigate adverse impacts of immigrant policing on health and well-being. The strategies women engaged were shaped by both the immigration processes and structures they confronted, and the resources to which they had access to within their social network. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest a complex interplay of immigration-related policies and processes, social networks, and health-relevant resources. They highlight the importance of inclusive policies to promote health for immigrant communities. These findings illuminate women's agency in the context of structural violence facing immigrant women and are particularly salient in the face of anti-immigrant rhetoric and exclusionary immigration and immigrant policies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alana M W LeBrón
- Department of Health, Society, and Behavior, University of California, Irvine 856 Health Sciences Drive, Suite 3555, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
| | - Amy J Schulz
- Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Cindy Gamboa
- Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Angela Reyes
- Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Edna Viruell-Fuentes
- Department of Latina/o Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Deceased), Urbana- Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Barbara A Israel
- Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mansfield R, Henderson M, Richards M, Ploubidis GB, Patalay P. Lifecourse trajectories and cross-generational trends in social isolation: Findings from five successive British birth cohort studies. ADVANCES IN LIFE COURSE RESEARCH 2024; 60:100613. [PMID: 38608375 DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Despite growing concerns in the UK about social isolation, there remains a lack of data on the extent and time trends of social isolation from longitudinal, population-based studies. There is also little research that assesses the multiple domains of social isolation across the lifecourse and between generations in a holistic way accounting for different contexts. By applying a multi-context, multi-domain framework of social isolation to 5 successive British birth cohorts, we provide conceptual and empirical understanding of social isolation trajectories across the lifecourse and identify potential generational and sex differences in trends. Where data were available, comparable social isolation indicators were generated to enable lifecourse trajectories and cross-generational trends to be explored. Information on isolation was available across the following relational contexts: household i.e., living alone; partnership, family and friends outside the household; education and employment networks; and community engagement. Trajectories were modelled stratified by sex using a multilevel growth curve framework. Data were analysed from 73,847 individuals (48.5% female), in 5 successive cohorts born in 1946 (N = 5,362), 1958 (N = 16,742), 1970 (N = 16,950), 1989-90 (N = 15,562), and 2000-01 (N = 19,231). Exploring a range of social isolation indicators across several contexts provided a nuanced picture of social isolation across the lifecourse and between generations in the UK, with no consistent pattern of increased or decreased isolation over time. For example, more people are living alone, less women are out of education and employment in midlife, more people are volunteering, but fewer people regularly engage in religious activity. It therefore highlights the need to focus on a range of social isolation indicators across contexts to understand how people compensate for specific types of isolation, and to understand structural differences in social configurations in the UK, which may not only define the timing and sequencing of life transitions but also social isolation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rosie Mansfield
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, UK.
| | - Morag Henderson
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, UK
| | - Marcus Richards
- MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, UK
| | | | - Praveetha Patalay
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, UK; MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Knauft K, Zilioli S, Tarraf W, Rorai V, Perry TE, Lichtenberg PA. Social connectedness in older Urban African-American adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of education and partnership. Aging Ment Health 2024; 28:874-881. [PMID: 37986033 PMCID: PMC11102929 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2023.2282682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study examined education, partnership status, and the moderating role of the lockdown period on social connectedness during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of urban African-American older adults. METHODS Five hundred thirty-four African-American adults living in Detroit (91.0% female, Mage = 74.53) reported demographic information pre-pandemic and answered one social connectedness questionnaire between April and December 2020. RESULTS Participants interviewed after the lockdown (post-June 2020) reported more loneliness than those interviewed during the lockdown (April-June, 2020). Married/partnered participants reported less loneliness and social isolation. Loneliness did not differ between those with high education levels interviewed during the lockdown compared to post-lockdown. However, among individuals with low education levels, those interviewed after the lockdown reported more loneliness than those interviewed during the lockdown period. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest partnership status is associated with more social connectedness during the pandemic and education accentuates the effects of forced isolation related to loneliness among urban African-American older adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Samuele Zilioli
- Department of Psychology, Wayne State University
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University
| | | | | | - Tam E. Perry
- Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University
| | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Taylor HO, Taylor RJ, Tsuchiya K, Chatters L. Social Isolation, Self-Rated Health, and Self-Rated Oral Health among African Americans. J Health Care Poor Underserved 2024; 35:18-36. [PMID: 38661857 PMCID: PMC11058460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Social isolation is associated with worse health; however, few studies have examined the health effects of isolation among African Americans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate associations between social isolation and self-rated physical and oral health from the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African Americans. Social isolation was operationalized to reflect both objective isolation (lack of contact) and subjective isolation (lack of emotional closeness). Self-rated physical and oral health were regressed on objective and subjective isolation while controlling for marital status, gender, age, family income, education, and health behaviors. Poorer self-rated physical health was associated with objective isolation, while poorer self-rated oral health was associated with subjective isolation. This study contributes to the small literature of the impact of social isolation on health among African Americans; furthermore, it is the first to examine the relationship between isolation and self-rated oral health in this population.
Collapse
|
5
|
Lay-Yee R, Hariri AR, Knodt AR, Barrett-Young A, Matthews T, Milne BJ. Social isolation from childhood to mid-adulthood: is there an association with older brain age? Psychol Med 2023; 53:7874-7882. [PMID: 37485695 PMCID: PMC10755222 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723001964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Older brain age - as estimated from structural MRI data - is known to be associated with detrimental mental and physical health outcomes in older adults. Social isolation, which has similar detrimental effects on health, may be associated with accelerated brain aging though little is known about how different trajectories of social isolation across the life course moderate this association. We examined the associations between social isolation trajectories from age 5 to age 38 and brain age assessed at age 45. METHODS We previously created a typology of social isolation based on onset during the life course and persistence into adulthood, using group-based trajectory analysis of longitudinal data from a New Zealand birth cohort. The typology comprises four groups: 'never-isolated', 'adult-only', 'child-only', and persistent 'child-adult' isolation. A brain age gap estimate (brainAGE) - the difference between predicted age from structural MRI date and chronological age - was derived at age 45. We undertook analyses of brainAGE with trajectory group as the predictor, adjusting for sex, family socio-economic status, and a range of familial and child-behavioral factors. RESULTS Older brain age in mid-adulthood was associated with trajectories of social isolation after adjustment for family and child confounders, particularly for the 'adult-only' group compared to the 'never-isolated' group. CONCLUSIONS Although our findings are associational, they indicate that preventing social isolation, particularly in mid-adulthood, may help to avert accelerated brain aging associated with negative health outcomes later in life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roy Lay-Yee
- Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences, and School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ahmad R. Hariri
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Annchen R. Knodt
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Timothy Matthews
- Department of Social Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Barry J. Milne
- Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences, and School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Liu J, Lin Z. Race/Ethnicity, Nativity, and Gender Disparities in Mental Health Trajectories from Mid- to Later-Life: A Life Course-Intersectional Approach. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2023:10.1007/s40615-023-01808-x. [PMID: 37755686 DOI: 10.1007/s40615-023-01808-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous studies have highlighted mental health disparities based on race/ethnicity, nativity, and gender across different life stages. However, few have investigated how the intersectionality of these factors influences mental health trajectories during midlife to late life. This study fills this gap by adopting a life course-intersectional approach, viewing mental health trajectories as dynamic processes shaped by the combined influences of race/ethnicity, nativity, and gender. It explores social, psychological, and physiological pathways contributing to these disparities. DESIGN Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2018; N = 38,049 observations) and growth curve models, this study examines how intra-individual trends in depressive symptoms (measured as CES-D scale, 07) are influenced by the intersection of race/ethnicity, nativity, and gender. It also investigates the impact of objective and subjective social isolation and physical health on group disparities in mental health trajectories. RESULTS The findings reveal that, during mid- to early late-life, most Black and Hispanic Americans experience higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to their White counterparts (disparities ranging from 0.184 to 0.463 for men and 0.117 to 0.439 for women). However, this disadvantage diminishes for US-born Hispanic men and US-born Black women (0.014-0.031 faster decrease rates compared to US-born White), while it intensifies for Hispanic immigrants (0.017-0.018 slower decrease rates compared to US-born White) in advanced ages. Mediation analysis demonstrates that both social isolation and physical health contribute to these disparities, with physical health explaining a larger portion, particularly in differences between immigrant Hispanic women and US-born Whites. CONCLUSION This study underscores the importance of a life course-intersectional approach in understanding mental health disparities. It emphasizes the need for improved social welfare systems and community-level interventions targeting the specific challenges faced by older Hispanic immigrants, especially women who encounter multiple forms of oppression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jingwen Liu
- Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, 3834 Campus Dr., Parren Mitchell Art-Sociology Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
| | - Zhiyong Lin
- Department of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, MS 4.02.66, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA
- Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd Street, Stop G1800, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| |
Collapse
|