An ecological expansion of the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) framework to include threat and deprivation associated with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices: An examination of the Latinx immigrant experience

Barajas-Gonzalez, R. Gabriela; Ayón, Cecilia; Brabeck, Kalina; Rojas-Flores, Lisseth; Valdez, Carmen R.

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114126

Cited by 84 publications

(76 citation statements)

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“…The scientific and social contexts that inform our understanding of ACEs [ 65 , 67 , 69 ], gender [ 70 ], and depression and anxiety [ 71 , 72 ] are all changing rapidly, and these changes will continue to alter how these constructs are measured in research and practice. Researchers and clinicians should focus not only on how ACEs, even as traditionally assessed, interact with gender, but also how ACEs interact with other socially-determined constructs, such as race, which can cause trauma [ 29 , 30 , 73 ]. Additionally, future research should collect data on experiences of sexism to better understand the mechanisms linking gender, ACEs, and mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in sexist and patriarchal societies, many females experience chronic stress [ 27 ], and gender norms can lead to females holding distorted and negative perceptions and beliefs about their worth and functioning [ 28 ]. As in other preventable forms of discrimination, such as racism, chronic exposure to sexism, especially if experienced throughout development and in prior generations, can initiate neuro-endocrine-immune and behavioral processes that may directly cause anxiety and depression [ 29 , 30 ]. Exposure to sexism, like racism, can also reduce the likelihood that the child will be able to buffer the effects of other adversities on their mental health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The interaction of adverse childhood experiences and gender as risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders in US adults: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2021

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Background Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and being female are distinct risk factors for having a major depressive episode (MDE) or an anxiety disorder (AD) in adulthood, but it is unclear whether these two risk factors are synergistic. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to ACEs and being female are more than additive (synergistic) in their association with MDE and AD in US adults. Methods We pooled cross-sectional survey data in the Midlife in the United States study from two nationally-representative cohorts of English-speaking US adults. Data from the first cohort were collected in 2004–2006 and from the second in 2011–2014. Data from both cohorts included the 12-month prevalence of MDE and AD (generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder) assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form, gender (here termed female and male), and the count of five categories of exposure to ACEs: physical, sexual, or emotional abuse; household alcohol or substance abuse; and parental separation or divorce. Results Of the 5834 survey respondents, 4344 (74.5%) with complete data on ACEs were included in the analysis. Mean (SD) age was 54.1 (13.8) years and 53.9% were female. The prevalences of MDE, AD, and exposure to 3–5 categories of ACEs were 13.7, 10.0, and 12.5%, respectively. After adjusting for covariates (age, race, and current and childhood socioeconomic disadvantage), for those with both risk factors (female and 3–5 ACEs) the prevalence of MDE was 26.9%. This was 10.2% (95% CI: 1.8, 18.5%) higher than the expected prevalence based on the additive associations of the two risk factors. The adjusted prevalence of AD among females with 3–5 ACEs was 21.9%, which was 11.4% (95% CI: 4.0, 18.9%) higher than the expected prevalence. Conclusions For both MDE and AD, there was synergy between the two risk factors of exposure to ACEs and being female. Identification and treatment of MDE and AD may benefit from understanding the mechanisms involved in the synergistic interaction of gender with ACEs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interaction of adverse childhood experiences and gender as risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders in US adults: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2021

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“…Our results are consistent, however, with past empirical work which found no relation of community violence to performance on direct assessments of executive function in preschoolers (Sharkey et al, 2012). One possibility is that concurrent associations are not detectable in early childhood, but the influence of immigration threat will exert its impact on executive function over time, especially if threat persists (Barajas-Gonzalez, Ayón, et al, 2021). Indeed, in line with the model of experiential canalization, chronic exposure to threat can heighten reactivity in stress response systems which impairs executive function (Blair & Raver, 2014) and the fundamental brain architecture built in the early years of life (Shonkoff et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental perceived immigration threat and children’s mental health, self-regulation and executive functioning in pre-Kindergarten.

Barajas-Gonzalez¹,

Ursache²,

Kamboukos³

et al. 2022

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

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Many children in immigrant households endure unique stressors shaped by national, state, and local immigration policies and enforcement activity in the United States. Qualitative studies find that during times of heightened immigration enforcement, children as young as 3 years of age show signs of behavioral distress related to national anti-immigrant sentiment and the possibility of losing a parent. Using multiple sources of data from 168 racially and ethnically diverse families of children in pre-Kindergarten, the present study examined variability in perceived levels of immigration enforcement threat by parental immigrant status and ethnicity. This study examined associations between immigration enforcement threat and child mental health, self-regulation, and executive functioning and whether parent immigrant status or child gender moderates these associations. We found substantial variability in perceived immigration threat, with immigrant parents and Latinx parents reporting significantly greater levels of immigration threat compared to nonimmigrant parents and non-Latinx parents. Immigration enforcement threat was associated with greater child separation anxiety and overanxious behaviors, and lower self-regulation among boys and girls and among children of immigrant and U.S.-born parents. In contrast to our hypothesis, immigration enforcement threat was associated with higher self-regulation according to independent assessor ratings. Educators and healthcare providers working with young children from immigrant and Latinx households should be aware of the disproportionate stress experienced by immigrant and Latinx families due to a xenophobic sociopolitical climate marked by heightened immigration enforcement threat and racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric.

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“…ACE frameworks typically focus on family adversity, whereas trauma and resilience frameworks–which often consider external events like natural disaster or war—more often posit families as possible sources of support. Yet increasingly for some children of immigrants, a specific type of event external to families–caused by governmental policies that result in incarceration, detention, or deportation—can be the basis for “systemic marginalization and deprivation” (Barajas‐Gonzalez et al, 2021). Immigration policies that emphasize enforcement create high levels of legal uncertainty, with impacts on the mental health of immigrant youth and their families (Berger Cardoso et al, 2021; Roche et al, 2021).…”

Section: Childhood Adverse Experiences Later In Life Outcomes and Enf...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those with a liminal status–such as temporary protected status (TPS) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA)— are especially vulnerable (Gonzales, 2011; Menjívar, 2006). This suggests that enforcement practices are likely responsible for a unique form of childhood adversity, necessitating the integration of an ecological model that considers sources of trauma that are specifically tied to policy contexts into the ACE framework (Barajas‐Gonzalez et al, 2021).…”

Section: Childhood Adverse Experiences Later In Life Outcomes and Enf...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The anatomy of immigration enforcement: Long‐standing socio‐emotional impacts on children as they age into adulthood

Dreby

Silveira

Lee

2022

J of Marriage and Family

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Objective This article identifies how experiences with immigration enforcement during childhood come to have long‐standing socio‐emotional impacts in adulthood. Background Scholarship shows adverse experiences in childhood to have enduring effects and that enforcement causes a series of hardships, particularly for children. Yet no research to date explains what specifically about enforcement shapes children's lives over time. Methods Using in‐depth interviews collected between 2019 and 2021 from 84 young adults, all who were minors raised during the period of increased immigration enforcement during the mid‐2000s, we use qualitative analytical techniques to explore enforcement as a possible source of traumatic experience outside of the household. Results We find that long‐term socio‐emotional effects related to enforcement are likely tied to three elements of children's lived experiences: (a) the extent of exposure to enforcement episodes, (b) the chronicity of exposure, and (c) the timing of exposure in a child's life course and that these three elements unfold within family contexts. Children with direct and chronic exposure and for whom exposure spans middle childhood describe negative consequences on their well‐being in adulthood particularly when they experience other forms of family adversity. Supportive family contexts can mitigate exposure, chronicity, and timing of exposure. Conclusion and Implications This framework for understanding the anatomy of enforcement can improve how we theorize immigration‐related trauma and can—in the absence of federal reform–provide local‐level policymakers and officials with guidelines to help lessen hardship caused by enforcement practices.

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An ecological expansion of the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) framework to include threat and deprivation associated with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices: An examination of the Latinx immigrant experience

Cited by 84 publications

References 95 publications

The interaction of adverse childhood experiences and gender as risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders in US adults: a cross-sectional study

The interaction of adverse childhood experiences and gender as risk factors for depression and anxiety disorders in US adults: a cross-sectional study

Parental perceived immigration threat and children’s mental health, self-regulation and executive functioning in pre-Kindergarten.

The anatomy of immigration enforcement: Long‐standing socio‐emotional impacts on children as they age into adulthood

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