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. 2021 Oct;23(5):956-964.
doi: 10.1007/s10903-021-01218-3. Epub 2021 May 27.

Somatic, Anxiety, and Depressive (SAD) Symptoms in Young Adult Latinx Immigrants: Prevalence and Predictors

Carrie Leathers  1   2 , Kurt Kroenke  3   4 , Mindy Flanagan  4 , Savina Diaz  5 , Rachel Gruber  4 , Gloria Tran  6 , Daniel Driver  6
Affiliations
Free article

Somatic, Anxiety, and Depressive (SAD) Symptoms in Young Adult Latinx Immigrants: Prevalence and Predictors

Carrie Leathers et al. J Immigr Minor Health. 2021 Oct.
Free article

Abstract

Certain immigration factors may increase somatic, anxiety, and depressive (SAD) symptoms in Latinx immigrants. Our study examined prevalence of SAD symptoms in Latinx immigrants 18-29 presenting to primary care with correlates of acculturation, immigration, and legal status. SAD symptoms were measured using the PHQ-14, GAD-7 and PHQ-8. Moderate somatization (37%), anxiety (20%), and depression (25%) were common. Multivariable analysis found five immigration factors predicted a higher composite SAD score and the presence of each additional factor increased likelihood of a SAD score ≥ 20 (OR 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.5). SAD scores increased in a dose-response fashion (8.3, 10.5, 14.8, 17.1, 21.7, 29.3) with the added presence of each factor. Elevated SAD scores were not associated with gender, marital status, education, income, country of origin, or acculturation. Screening with our five factor immigration distress index may help identify patients at risk for higher SAD scores during a primary care visit.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Immigration; Latinx; Somatization; Undocumented.

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