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. 2023 Apr;10(2):761-774.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01264-z. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Documentation Status and Self-Rated Physical Health Among Latinx Young Adult Immigrants: the Mediating Roles of Immigration and Healthcare Stress

Allison McCord Stafford  1 , Aneri Tanna  2 , Karina Moreno Bueno  2 , Gabriela A Nagy  3   4 , Irene Crabtree Felsman  3   5 , Scott de Marchi  6 , Rushina Cholera  7 , Kate Evans  8 , Eliazar Posada  9 , Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda  3
Affiliations

Documentation Status and Self-Rated Physical Health Among Latinx Young Adult Immigrants: the Mediating Roles of Immigration and Healthcare Stress

Allison McCord Stafford et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that undocumented Latinx immigrants in the USA report worse physical health outcomes than documented immigrants. Some studies suggest that immigration-related stress and healthcare related-stress may explain this relationship, but none have tested it empirically. The purpose of this study was to determine if immigration-related stress and healthcare-related stress in the USA explain the relationship between documentation status and physical health among Latinx immigrants in North Carolina. The conceptual model was tested utilizing baseline data from a longitudinal, observational, community-engaged research study of young adult (18-44 years) Latinx immigrants residing in North Carolina (N = 391). Structural equation modeling was used to determine relationships among documentation status, healthcare, and immigration stress in the past six months, and self-rated physical health. Goodness-of-fit measures indicated that data fit the model well (RMSEA = .008; CFI = 1.0; TLI = .999; SRMR = .02; CD = .157). Undocumented individuals were more likely to experience immigration stress than their documented counterparts ([Formula: see text] = - 0.37, p < 0.001). Both immigration stress ([Formula: see text] = - 0.22, p < 0.01) and healthcare stress ([Formula: see text] = - 0.14, p < 0.05) were negatively related to physical health. Additionally, immigration stress was positively related to healthcare stress ([Formula: see text] = 0.72, p < 0.001). Results demonstrate that documentation status is an important social determinant of health. Passage of inclusive immigration and healthcare policies may lessen the stress experienced by Latinx immigrants and subsequently improve physical health.

Keywords: Health disparity; Hispanic American; Immigration; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual model adapted from Cabral and Cuevas [35] describing mediators of the relationship between documentation status and physical health outcomes
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Structural equation model. The partial mediating roles of healthcare and immigration stress on the relationships between documentation status and self-rated physical health. All pathways are standardized coefficients. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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