Deported Men's and Father's Perspective: The Impacts of Family Separation on Children and Families in the U.S

Childhood Parental Deportations, Immigration Enforcement Experiences, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among US-Born Latino Adults, 2021

Objectives. To examine how having a parent deported in childhood and immigration enforcement encounters relate to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among a sample of US-born Latinos. Methods. In 2021, a national sample of 1784 US-born Latinos was recruited to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire elicited data on sociodemographics, mental health, and immigration-related experiences. The dependent variable was past-year symptoms of PTSD. Immigration-related variables included (1) having a parent deported during their childhood, (2) having a (nonparent) family member deported, (3) fear of having a parent or loved one deported, (4) fear of immigration enforcement encounters, and (5) having experienced an immigration raid. A multivariable logistic regression was conducted to examine independent associations between immigration-related variables and PTSD. Results. Having a parent deported during childhood was associated with more than twice the odds of meeting criteria for PTSD symptoms. Having a loved one deported, fearing the deportation of a loved one, and having experienced an immigration raid were all associated with PTSD. Conclusions. It is imperative to better understand the long-term implications of immigration policies in perpetuating health inequities among US-born Latinos. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S495-S504. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307660) [Formula: see text].

Mental Health Implications of Family Separation Associated with Migration Policies in the United States: A Systematic Review

The practice of family separation as a mechanism of oppression has a deep-rooted history in the U.S., manifesting in diverse contexts, including punitive migration policies. This systematic review aimed to provide a rigorous and updated synthesis of the research on family separation as a result of migration policies and its impacts on immigrants' mental health while making a distinction between forced family separation, family separation by constrained choices, and living with the fear of family separation. We systematically searched four bibliographic databases using keywords related to family separation, migration, transnational families, and mental health for peer-reviewed studies published in English on or before January 1st, 2022. Results of the review indicate that family separation or fear of it may result in depression, anxiety, behavioral and emotional issues, sleep disturbances, and stress or distress in affected children. Similarly, impacted parents or caregivers might experience stress or distress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Findings call for migration policy changes prioritizing family unity and comprehensive mental health interventions to respond to the pervasive consequences of family separation or fear thereof among immigrants in the U.S.

The Trauma of Separation: Lifelong Health Implications on Children

In the United States, there are millions of globally displaced children who travel with family to seek immigration relief, many of whom have experienced family separation or live under the constant threat of separation. Family separation constitutes a significant trauma with lifelong impacts on a child's mental health, physical health, and development. This review provides a summary of the various contexts within which family separation occurs as well as the current literature on long-term health sequelae. These include mental illness, externalizing behaviors, developmental challenges, family stability, economic impacts, and educational attainment. Given the number of newcomer children in the US, it is paramount that pediatric clinicians develop a holistic understanding of their needs and the effects of separation to provide evidence-based care and to advocate for the prevention of this trauma for all future migrant families. [Pediatr Ann. 2024;53(5):e167-e170.].

Coping with the Forced Separation of Close Relationships during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

Issues regarding close relations became especially prevalent within the context of the pandemic, due to the forced separation of these relationships. This is now seen as a significant stressor that influences emotions and subjective perceptions of the relationship.

Objective

The current study aims to investigate the specifics of coping with the forced separation of partners with varying types of closeness.

Design

The study was carried out with quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample included 43 women and 42 men (aged 21-47); all were involuntarily separated from their partners by impacts of the pandemic.

Results

Three scenarios of romantic relationships were identified based on a balance of love components (intimacy, passion, commitment) and prevalent feelings (closeness or distance). The authors concluded that certain coping strategies (positive reassessment, acceptance, distraction) can help the individual to cope with the separation, but do not contribute to the closeness of the partners and the strengthening of the relationship. Coping primarily through active support was typical for partners with intense and balanced feelings based on closeness (Scenario 3). Ambivalent feelings toward a partner (Scenario 1) were associated with passive coping, which increased the risk of detachment. The moderate manifestation of balanced love components and closeness (Scenario 2) focused on acceptance of the situation, positive reassessing, and distraction, all of which reduce the stress of separation, but cause anxiety regarding the future of the relationship.

Conclusion

The type of close relationship has been found to correlate to the coping strategy adopted by the couple following forced separation during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, further studies are required to investigate separation in various social contexts, not only in isolation due to the pandemic, as well as its connection to psychological well-being.

Sibling relationships among U.S. citizen children of undocumented Mexican parents

Current U.S. immigration policies disproportionately impact Mexican-origin mixed-status families, yet few studies examine the consequences of immigration enforcement (e.g., immigration-related arrest and detention) and deportation on sibling dynamics. Given this gap, this study focuses on the experiences and changes within sibling relationships in the aftermath of parental detention and deportation. We analyzed a subsample of 20 citizen children interviews (7 sibling dyads; 2 sibling triads) from a multi-site binational study that examined the psychosocial functioning of U.S. citizen children with undocumented Mexican parents. Using inductive thematic analysis, we explored the roles and functional importance of sibling relationships before and after experiences of parents' detention and deportation. Our findings suggest that prior to detention or deportation experiences, sibling relationships were described as "normal." After these experiences, however, sibling relationships changed and developed protective adaptations, including more open communication about their experiences and the assumption of caregiving roles. In cases where deportation did not occur, there still existed the threat of future immigration-related action, which contributed to fear and an inability to share feelings and experiences among siblings. Our findings suggest that sibling relationships might serve as an important locus of stability and protection. Yet, adaptive communication may not emerge as long as the threat of apprehension, detention, and deportation exists.

Health Insurance Access Among US Citizen Children In Mexico: National And Transborder Policy Implications

More than 500,000 US citizen migrant children were residing in Mexico in 2015, and more than half of them had limited, inadequate health insurance despite their citizenship status. The majority of these children lived in Mexican states near the US border. Despite these numbers, knowledge regarding these children and their health has been scarce. To address these knowledge gaps, we analyzed data from the 2015 Mexican Intercensal Survey to examine whether the health insurance status of US citizen migrant children in Mexico is linked to individual, household, and state factors. We compared rates of insured US citizen migrant children with rates among those who were underinsured. We found high rates of underinsurance among US citizen migrant children, especially in northern Mexican border states. Parental education, labor-force participation, urban residence, and border residence partially accounted for these children's probability of being insured. Our results have implications for binational policies that extend health care protection to US citizen migrant children through reintegration assistance for their parents, an expedited dual-citizenship application process, and exempting these children from the automatic cancellation of US-based health benefits.

How early maternal deprivation changes the brain and behavior?

Early life stress can adversely influence brain development and reprogram brain function and consequently behavior in adult life. Adequate maternal care in early childhood is therefore particularly important for the normal brain development, and adverse early life experiences can lead to altered emotional, behavioral, and neuroendocrine stress responses in the adulthood. As a form of neonatal stress, maternal deprivation/separation is often used in behavioral studies to examine the effects of early life stress and for modeling the development of certain psychiatric disorders and brain pathologies in animal models. The temporary loss of maternal care during the critical postpartum periods remodels the offspring's brain and provokes long-term effects on learning and cognition, the development of mental disorders, aggression, and an increased tendency for the drug abuse. Early life stress through maternal deprivation affects neuroendocrine responses to stress in adolescence and adulthood by dysregulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and permanently disrupts stress resilience. In this review, we focused on how improper maternal care during early postnatal life affects brain development resulting in modified behavior later in life.

Family as a health promotion setting: A scoping review of conceptual models of the health-promoting family

Background

The family is a key setting for health promotion. Contemporary health promoting family models can establish scaffolds for shaping health behaviors and can be useful tools for education and health promotion.

Objectives

The objective of this scoping review is to provide details as to how conceptual and theoretical models of the health promoting potential of the family are being used in health promotion contexts.

Design

Guided by PRISMA ScR guidelines, we used a three-step search strategy to find relevant papers. This included key-word searching electronic databases (Medline, PSycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL), searching the reference lists of included studies, and intentionally searching for grey literature (in textbooks, dissertations, thesis manuscripts and reports.)

Results

After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the overall search generated 113 included manuscripts/chapters with 118 unique models. Through our analysis of these models, three main themes were apparent: 1) ecological factors are central components to most models or conceptual frameworks; 2) models were attentive to cultural and other diversities, allowing room for a wide range of differences across family types, and for different and ever-expanding social norms and roles; and 3) the role of the child as a passive recipient of their health journey rather than as an active agent in promoting their own family health was highlighted as an important gap in many of the identified models.

Conclusions

This review contributes a synthesis of contemporary literature in this area and supports the priority of ecological frameworks and diversity of family contexts. It encourages researchers, practitioners and family stakeholders to recognize the value of the child as an active agent in shaping the health promoting potential of their family context.