Empathic Family Stress as a Sign of Family Connectedness in Haitian Immigrants

Abstract

Research on familial experiences has documented the important role of receiving family support, but has not examined the effects of providing such support. Empathic family stress refers to the stress that individuals experience in response to difficult life circumstances of family members. The current study took a first step in examining the empathic family stress of 134 Haitian immigrants. Results from hierarchical regressions indicate that empathic family stress is a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, but not acculturative stress, for Haitian immigrants. Findings from the study are examined from a strengths-based perspective, where empathic family stress is viewed as a sign of strong family connections among Haitian immigrants. Recommendations are provided for clinicians working with Haitian immigrants to help them experience empathic family stress in a healthy manner.

Understanding the role of social support in trajectories of mental health symptoms for immigrant adolescents

“…It captures both stress experienced within one's own group (e.g., "It bothers me that family members I am close to do not understand my new American values") and stress experienced when engaging with the mainstream culture (e.g., "It bothers me when people pressure me to become part of the mainstream American culture"). The SAFE scale is designed to measure acculturative stress for diverse adolescent samples (Britto & Amer, 2007;Nicolas, Desilva, Prater, & Bronkoski, 2009) and has shown strong evidence of good construct validity and good internal consistency for various immigrant groups (Amer & Hovey, 2005;. A 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all stressful) to 4 (very stressful) was used for a modified 10-item version of the scale.…”

Predictors of Sexual Activity in Haitian-American Adolescents

“…(3–7) Additionally, children of immigrant families might be at increased risk for negative physical and mental health outcomes, depending on such factors as their migration experiences, family stability, social support, personal competencies, and acculturation stress. (8,9)…”

Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among Haitian immigrant students: implications for access to mental health services and educational programming

“…Among a study population of Haitian immigrants in Florida, 28% reported a family income of less than $10,000 annually [23]. Family characteristics from another study with Haitian immigrants indicated that 26% earned less than $20,000 per year and 22% were unemployed; only 50% were working full-time at the time of the survey [24]. This level of poverty also has significant implications for the mental health of Haitian immigrant youth.…”

“…Given the high level of suicidality documented previously [22], the elevated rates of poverty [23,24], and the relative lack of knowledge of "internalizing" symptoms among Haitian immigrant and refugee youth, the primary aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Haitian immigrant students enrolled in public schools in an urban center in the U.S. By selecting students enrolled in school, this study offers the opportunity to inform potential interventions that can assist Haitian immigrant youth within public school systems. Through examination of factors associated with depression and PTSD in this population, a secondary aim is to identify potential areas of intervention that may enhance psychosocial health outcomes among immigrant youth from Haiti and similar settings of poverty, instability, and violence.…”