Stress and Sociocultural Factors Related to Health Status Among US–Mexico Border Farmworkers

Abstract

This study examines factors relating to farmworkers' health status from sociocultural factors, including stress embedded within their work and community contexts. A cross-sectional household survey of farmworkers (N = 299) included social-demographics, immigration status descriptors, and a social-ecologically grounded, community-responsive, stress assessment. Outcomes included three standard US national surveillance measures of poor mental, physical, and self-rated health (SRH). Logistic regression models showed that higher levels of stress were significantly associated (Ps < .001) with increased risk for poor mental health and poor physical health considering all variables. Stress was not associated with SRH. Regarding two of the three outcomes, mental health and physical health, stress added explanatory power as expected. For poor SRH, a known marker for mortality risk and quite high in the sample at 38%, only age was significantly associated. Clinical and systems-level health promotion strategies may be required to mitigate these stressors in border-residing farmworkers.

Breaking the Silence: Sexual Harassment of Mexican Women Farmworkers

“…6,9,31,32 They also reported the lack of health insurance, language skills, and knowledge of the health care system as additional barriers to good health. 33–35 In general, women farmworkers recognized that WSH was widespread and detrimental to their physical, psychological, and relational health.…”

Economic Hardship and Depression Among Women in Latino Farmworker Families

“…In addition, documentation status may play a role in these women’s mental health. A study looking at factors related to low income farmworkers’ health status in Yuma County, Arizona, found that higher level of stress were significantly associated with increased risk for poor mental health and poor psychological health (50). A review of research on mental health status of undocumented Mexican immigrants (51) argues that undocumented Mexican immigrants’ experience of discrimination results in questioning self-worth, which may increase their risk of depression, and concluded that undocumented immigrants do have unique risk profile, which may contribute to different mental health outcomes as compared to their documented counterparts.…”

Stress, Depression, and Occupational Injury among Migrant Farmworkers in Nebraska

“…The majority of migrant farmworkers are Latino immigrants from Mexico with increasing numbers of workers coming from Central America [ 1 , 17 ]. They are often undocumented [ 7 , 18 ], have low levels of formal education and English language proficiency [ 7 , 19 , 20 ], have significant cultural differences from the dominant U.S. culture [ 2 ], and may lack access to appropriate occupational health and safety information, training, and enforcement of regulations [ 6 , 17 ]. Numerous studies have documented high levels of occupational injury among migrant and seasonal farmworkers [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 12 ].…”