Intergenerational Effects of Citizenship Status, Psychosocial Stress, and Family Influences Among Second-Generation Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Children of immigrants are the fastest growing population of children in the United States. Compared to children of US born parents, children of immigrants face unique social and economic circumstances, which have profound implications for their development, social mobility, and health. More recently, legal status has been posited to contribute to immigrant health disparities. Legal status stratification has created a hierarchy of classes of immigrants through a sliding scale of entitlement and privileges (e.g., public assistance, income, employment) with implications for their health. Additionally, legal status has been posited to have spillover effects across other family members (including children) through pathways of family relationship dynamics and psychosocial stressors. These associations are currently understudied. In response to these issues, the dissertation examines intergenerational effects of US citizenship status, family factors, and psychosocial stressors on outcomes of education (as a social determinant of health) and health among a diverse sample of second-generation immigrant youth. This dissertation used data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study to conduct three studies, each building upon the other to examine both risk and protective factors on education and health for second-generation immigrant youth. In my first study, I found that citizenship status (both parent and youth) and parent factors (parent-child communication and educational expectations) were significantly associated with educational attainment. In the second study, I initially found that parent citizenship status was significantly associated with depressive symptoms; however, after controlling for all predictors and covariates, this association was attenuated. Strong family relationships were inversely associated with depressive symptoms, while psychosocial stressors were positively associated with depressive symptoms. In my third study, as these youth transition into young adulthood, I found that their own citizenship status and health insurance status were initially associated with health; however, the relationship between these factors and self-rated health were attenuated after accounting for all predictors and covariates. Results suggest that educational attainment and psychosocial stressors were salient for young adults’ self-rated health. Collectively, my findings indicate that citizenship status may be associated with health via pathways of access to education and other critical family and psychosocial resources (e.g., family support, income, psychosocial stressors) that regulate health within and across generations. For young adults, educational attainment was significantly associated with their health, which suggests that citizenship status may contribute to their health through associations with educational attainment. Specifically, parents’ citizenship status may be associated with educational attainment through providing financial support and supporting their children for college preparation, with influence on their children’s education extending into adulthood. Additionally, strong family relationships were protective for the health of immigrant youth; conversely, psychosocial stressors were negatively associated with health among immigrant youth across the life course. Findings suggest that family dynamics may buffer the adverse effects of psychosocial stress for the health of immigrant youth and their protective influence spanning beyond adolescence. These results also suggest that immigrant youth may be experiencing multiple stressors which may have cumulative and adverse consequences for their health into adulthood. Furthermore, the link between citizenship status and health may be mediated by family and psychosocial factors, with future assessment of these relationships needed. This dissertation contributes to the literature in understanding the relationship between citizenship status and risk and protective factors on the health of second-generation immigrant youth across the life course.