Immigration Status and College Students’ Psychosocial Well-Being

Abstract

Differences in psychosocial well-being were examined between college students with abject immigration status (i.e., undocumented, other temporary documentation), students with permanent status (i.e., U.S. citizenship, permanent residency), and students with visas using a set of one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs). The data were collected from 76 institutions participating in the Healthy Minds Study during the 2018–2019 academic year. Measures of psychosocial well-being included positive mental health, anxiety, depression, discrimination, campus inclusion, and ethnic identity. Results revealed that on all measures, except ethnic identity, students with abject immigration status experienced worse well-being than other students, and these differences were statistically significant. Findings have implications for strengthening campus supports for immigrant students in response to their psychosocial well-being needs.

Psychological Impact, Strengths, and Handling the Uncertainty Among Latinx DACA Recipients

“…Our findings, however, highlight how the ongoing DACA political debate and constant visibility around efforts to terminate DACA create additional stressors for these already vulnerable communities. These results are consistent with new research highlighting that immigrant students who do not hold permanent protections in their immigration statuses exhibit higher symptoms of psychological distress compared to their peers who hold permanent protections (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2020). Future research can examine how these ongoing stressors can impact academic performance and have long-term effects on the well-being of Latinx immigrant young adults.…”

“…Hope et al (2015) suggest that social advocacy through civic engagement is related to many positive development outcomes including, but not limited to, increased critical analysis, problem-solving skills, sense of self, and positive identity formation. Research is also highlighting that developing critical consciousness of social advocacy and self advocacy supports undocumented students in maintaining intentions to persist in college and in coping with discrimination (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2020). Although critical consciousness did not come up in our data, this topic may require further investigation.…”

“…Researchers have found significant effects of discrimination on mental and physical health problems (Bjorklund, 2018; Cariello et al, 2020; Hagiwara et al, 2020; Potochnick & Perreira, 2010), including stress, anxiety, depression, paranoia, and psychoticism (Bjorklund, 2018; Finch et al, 2001; Potochnick & Perreira, 2010). For example, Cadenas and Nienhusser (2020), using data from Healthy Minds, found that a stastically significant amount of immigrant young adults with abject immigration status experienced more discrimination and worse psychosocial well-being than other young adults. Researchers have also linked higher experiences with everyday racial/ethnic-based discrimination to increases in anxiety among undocumented college students (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2020).…”

“…For example, Cadenas and Nienhusser (2020), using data from Healthy Minds, found that a stastically significant amount of immigrant young adults with abject immigration status experienced more discrimination and worse psychosocial well-being than other young adults. Researchers have also linked higher experiences with everyday racial/ethnic-based discrimination to increases in anxiety among undocumented college students (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2020).…”

“…As early as Trump’s announcement to join the 2016 presidential race, his campaign promoted rescinding DACA, fueling racism, xenophobia, hate crimes, hostile school environments, negative academic outcomes, and negative socio-emotional outcomes for the Latinx community (Gleeson & Sampat, 2018; Gomez & Perez Huber, 2019). Indeed, recent research has found that in the year following the attempt to rescind DACA, undocumented college students exhibited higher anxiety, depression, and discrimination, as well as lower positive mental health, compared to their peers who had permanent legal status or held international visas (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2020).…”