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The risk of psychological distress among unemployed and underemployed Mexican and Colombian immigrants in the US and in their countries of origin

El riesgo de malestar psicológico entre los inmigrantes mexicanos y colombianos desempleados y subempleados en los Estados Unidos y en sus países de origen

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Abstract

We compare unemployed and underemployed Mexican and Colombian immigrants in the United States with people in the countries of origin in similar conditions, to better understand differences in psychological distress, thereby deviating from the literature on the Hispanic health paradox. We designed and conducted a survey that enabled us to capture aspects not broadly available in general surveys. Mexican immigrants report less distress than respondents in Mexico City, differences that disappear when controlling for differences in socioeconomic situation, financial tensions, and labor satisfaction. Colombian immigrants, generally in more favorable conditions than Mexican immigrants, report more distress than their counterparts in Colombia. Subjective factors such as the intentions of migration and especially the perceptions regarding mental health, but not the social networks, appear relevant for the reported distress. We conclude that heterogeneities between Colombians and Mexicans—both as immigrants and in their countries of origin—regarding objective and subjective characteristics must be addressed in greater depth.

Resumen

Comparamos a los inmigrantes desempleados y subempleados mexicanos y colombianos en los Estados Unidos con personas en situaciones similares en sus países de origen a fin de entender mejor las diferencias en el malestar psicológico, desviándonos así de la literatura sobre la paradoja epidemiológica hispana. Diseñamos y llevamos a cabo una encuesta que nos permitió captar algunos aspectos que no están disponibles en las encuestas generales. Los inmigrantes mexicanos tienen menores niveles de malestar psicológico que las personas que respondieron a la encuesta en la Ciudad de México, diferencias que desaparecen cuando se controlan para variables socioeconómicas, preocupaciones financieras y de satisfacción laboral. Los inmigrantes colombianos, que generalmente viven en condiciones más favorables que los mexicanos, presentan mayores niveles de malestar psicológico que sus homólogos en Colombia. Aspectos subjetivos, tales como la intención de migrar y especialmente las percepciones sobre salud mental tienen mayor relación con los niveles de malestar psicológico observados. Concluimos que se deben abordar con mayor profundidad las heterogeneidades con respecto a características objetivas y subjetivas entre las personas colombianas y las mexicanas, tanto inmigrantes como en sus países de origen.

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Notes

  1. Interviewing younger people and asking detailed questions about migration status could have complicated the project’s IRB approval.

  2. For example, Mexicans who visit the consulate generally do that to obtain a Consular ID Card (a document used as identification by those whose status in the US is irregular). There were no financial or other incentives to participate in the questionnaire; at all research locations, filling the waiting time was the only incentive.

  3. Available via https://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/k6_scales.php. Translations in many languages have been used in the WHO’s World Mental Health Initiative. Several other translations and validations of the K10 scale in Spanish are used in different countries; see for example, Brenlla and Aranguren (2010) and Vargas Terrez et al. (2011).

  4. Some questions included in the questionnaire were inspired by Mexico’s National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE), the World Values Survey, and the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 instruments (Kroenke et al. 2001; Spitzer et al. 2006).

  5. The question has been asked only in the questionnaires in the United States. In the analysis, our assumption that respondents in the home country do not speak English affects only group indicators but none of the other estimates.

  6. These questions were asked only in the questionnaires in the United States.

  7. Given that the distribution of scores on the Kessler scale is highly skewed, the assumption of a normal distribution required for an OLS analysis is not satisfied. We opted for a count data model assuming the underlying process follows a negative binomial distribution, interpreting the scores on the Kessler scale (relocated to the range 0–40) as a variable that “counts” the level of NSPD. See Cameron and Trivedi (1998).

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Acknowledgements

The project received financial support of a PIMSA Grant 2013–2014 (UC Berkeley) and of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Grants PAPIIT-IN301714 and PAPSA-2015. The project received certification from the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) of DePaul University and San Diego State University. The authors acknowledge support from the Institute for Mexican Citizens Abroad (IME), the Mexican Consulates in Chicago and New York, the Colombian Consulate in New York, the Coordination of Work Relations of the General Office for Employment, Training and Cooperational Development of Mexico City's Secretary of Employment, and of the National Learning Service (SENA) of the City of Cali. The authors are particularly grateful to all individuals who took part in the conducting of the survey, as well as everyone who agreed to respond the questionnaire and participated in the focus groups. We also thank Dr. Margarita Alegría for her valuable comments, and intern Luz Elena Anguiano and the entire team of professionals, academics and students who took part in the development of this project in all its stages, and especially Howard Rosing and Esther Quintero for the support received during several visits to Chicago. The questionnaires and consent forms, as well as the data, are available upon request from the first author.

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  1. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Maritza Caicedo

  2. El Colegio de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Edwin van Gameren

  3. University of California, Merced, USA

    Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes

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Caicedo, M., van Gameren, E. & Amuedo-Dorantes, C. The risk of psychological distress among unemployed and underemployed Mexican and Colombian immigrants in the US and in their countries of origin. Lat Stud 19, 226–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-021-00315-6

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