Mental health among Latina farmworkers and other employed Latinas in North Carolina.

Abstract

The mental health of Latinas with manual occupations, particularly those employed in agriculture, is a public health concern. The goals of this analysis were to describe the mental health of Latina farmworkers, and to compare their mental health with that of other Latina manual workers. Participants included 35 employed Latina farmworkers, 35 employed non-farmworkers, and 25 unemployed non-farmworkers who completed interviews in 2012. Measures included stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, elevated depressive symptoms, and risk for alcohol dependence. Farmworkers had greater stress and anxiety than did employed and unemployed non-farmworkers. Employed Latinas, whether farmworkers or in other occupations, had greater stress and anxiety than unemployed Latinas. Depressive symptoms, although high, did not differ significantly by occupation and employment. Few were at risk for alcohol dependence. Concrete steps are needed to address the mental health of Latina farmworkers, and to continue documentation of mental health concerns and their causes in this population.

Understanding Challenges to Well-Being among Latina FarmWorkers in Rural Idaho Using in an Interdisciplinary, Mixed-Methods Approach

“…Consistent with these findings, previous research has found Latina farmworkers to experience greater stress and anxiety than Latinas who were employed in other occupations [ 30 ]. Further, employed Latinas (both farmworkers and non-farmworkers) were found to experience greater stress and anxiety than unemployed Latinas [ 30 ].…”

“…Six of the pesticide biomarkers we measured met our criteria for quality assurance and frequency of detection: malathion dicarboxylic acid (MDA), para-nitrophenol (PNP), 3,5,6-tricholor-2-pyridinol (TCPY), 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), the trans isomer of 3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2-2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (trans-DCCA), and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Five of these, MDA, PNP, TCPY, 3-PBA and trans-DCCA, represent exposure to organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides, which have been associated with neurological dysfunction in agricultural workers [ 30 ]. The metabolite 2,4-D represents exposure to an herbicide that has been associated with cancer in agricultural workers [ 31 ].…”

“…However, less attention been given to the ways in which gender shapes well-being among Latina farmworkers. Yet as noted above, gender inequalities may be a key driver in understanding the vulnerabilities Latina farmworkers face, including those related to well-being [ 30 ].…”

Key Risk Factors Affecting Farmers’ Mental Health: A Systematic Review

“…Higher mental disorder levels and poorer vitality have been reported for animal farmers [90,91] and dairy farmers [90,92], compared to non-farmers. Others also find a higher prevalence of mental disorders in farm workers as compared to employed non-farmworkers and other occupations such as teaching, office work, and building construction [62,86,90,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101]. Wheeler et al [26] identified that some Australian irrigators experienced high levels of psychological distress nationally; higher than dryland farmers or the Australian population.…”

Conventional and Complementary Therapy Use among Mexican Farmworkers in North Carolina: Applying the I-CAM-Q

“…2,3 Many also experience chronic diseases, including diabetes, tuberculosis, and hypertension, [4][5][6][7][8] as well as significant mental health problems, including stress, depression, and alcohol use disorders. [9][10][11][12] However, these farmworkers have limited access to conventional health services. 13,14 Mexicans and Mexican Americans access a wide array of traditional healers and other complementary therapies.…”