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

摘要 拉丁美洲移民农场工人（LMFW）的子女是一个独特的弱势群体，他们在 社会和健康差距的重大风险，可能对发展和社会经济造成持久影响， 后果每年有300多万移民和季节性农场工人在美国各地收获粮食。 在美国，几乎60%的人有经常陪伴他们的未成年子女。移动性产生独特的 儿童面临的挑战，包括教育中断和不稳定、歧视、孤立和贫困 这可能导致精神和身体健康状况不佳以及过早使用药物。这些挑战可能 在青春期尤其突出，因为此时高危行为和健康差异变得更加严重 很明显。由于这些家庭的高流动性，很少有研究人员研究这一人群， 考虑到移徙的纵向性质，因此无法确定长期的 移民身份对青年健康结果的影响。此外，研究人员很少评估弹性因素， 这可能会减轻LMFW青年经历的压力。我们的目标是纵向研究如何 背景移徙压力因素有助于近端脆弱性，导致健康状况不佳， LMFW青少年。我们还评估有可能缓冲的特定保护因素 儿童移徙风险，以及促进健康和福祉。研究参与者包括400名LMFW 在印第安纳州的移民教育计划的所有三个地区招募的10 - 15岁的儿童。我们使用 一种纵向混合方法，将定性半结构化访谈与定量 从多个报告者、生物标志物和行为任务中收集的调查，以解决3个具体目标：（1） 评估宏观和近端风险如何与LMFW青年的显著健康结果相关，并确定 流动状况如何调节这些关系;（2）研究宏观层面的压力源和流动状况如何 影响LMFW青少年在青春期的健康轨迹，并评估这些联系是如何通过 近端风险因素;（3）确定抵消或缓冲负面健康轨迹的保护因素， LMFW青年。本项目采用动态的多学科方法来评估长期发展 流动性对健康的影响，同时利用基于力量的框架来阐明有意义的 LMFW儿童环境中存在的个人，家庭和社区弹性因素。这些结果 预计将对与LMFW儿童有关的公共卫生问题产生重大积极影响， 为政策提供信息并指导未来的干预工作，以减少弱势群体的健康差距。 青年人处于关键的发展时期。通过关注农民工的子女， 他们构成了经济上最弱势和服务不足的拉丁裔亚群之一，我们的 这项研究为未来的研究奠定了基础，这些研究旨在制定干预措施，以改善生活机会， 健康，以及农场工人家庭中第二代移民儿童的适应。

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.