Mental and Physical Health in Children of Latino Migrant Farm Workers: A Multi-Level Longitudinal Examination of Risk and Resilience Factors

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Abstract Children of Latino migrant farm workers (LMFW) are a unique and vulnerable population whom are at significant risk for social and health disparities that can have lasting developmental and socioeconomic consequences. Every year over 3 million migrant and seasonal farmworkers harvest food across the United States, and almost 60% have minor children whom often accompany them. Mobility produces unique challenges for children including educational interruptions and instability, discrimination, isolation, and poverty which can contribute to poor mental and physical health as well as early substance use. These challenges may be especially salient during adolescence when high-risk behaviors and health disparities become more evident. Due to the high mobility of these families, few researchers have studied this population with consideration of the longitudinal nature of migration, and thus, have been unable to identify the long-term effects of migration status on youth health outcomes. Also, researchers have rarely assessed resilience factors that may mitigate stressors that LMFW youth experience. Our objectives are to longitudinally examine how contextual migratory stressors contribute to proximal vulnerabilities that result in poor health outcomes for LMFW youth during adolescence. We also assess specific protective factors that have potential to buffer children from migratory risks, as well as promote health and well-being. Study participants include 400 LMFW children aged 10-15 recruited in all three regions of the Migrant Education Program in Indiana. We use a longitudinal mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative semi-structured interviews with quantitative surveys collected from multiple reporters, biomarkers, and behavioral tasks to address 3 specific aims: (1) Assess how macro and proximal risks are associated with salient health outcomes in LMFW youth, and identify how mobility status moderates these relations; (2) Examine how macro level stressors and mobility status affect LMFW youths’ health trajectories across adolescence, and assess how such links are mediated by proximal risk factors; and (3) Identify protective factors that counteract or buffer negative health trajectories in LMFW youth. This project uses a dynamic multi-disciplinary approach to assess the long-term developmental consequences of mobility on health, while utilizing a strength-based framework to elucidate meaningful individual, familial, and community resilience factors present in LMFW children’s environment. These outcomes are expected to have a significant positive impact on public health issues relating to LMFW children by informing policy and directing future intervention efforts targeted at reducing health disparities in a vulnerable youth population during a critical developmental period. By focusing on the children of migrant farmworkers, whom constitute one of the most economically disadvantaged and underserved Latino subpopulations, our study lays the groundwork for future studies that aim to develop interventions to improve the life chances, health, and adjustment of second-generation immigrant children in farmworker families.