The association between social ties and depression among Asian and Pacific Islander undocumented young adults

Abstract

Background The mental health of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) undocumented young adults has been understudied, despite an increasingly restrictive immigration climate that would ostensibly raise mental health risks. This study examined the role of social ties and depression among API undocumented young adults. We distinguished between two types of social ties, bonding and bridging, and additionally considered the absence of ties (e.g. isolation). Methods We used primary data collected among 143 API undocumented young adults. We first identified correlates for each type of social tie and then examined the association for each measure with depression. Results Higher levels of bonding and bridging ties were associated with lower odds of a positive depression screen. In contrast, isolation was associated with higher odds of a positive depression screen. There were no significant associations between total social ties and depression. Conclusions Our findings suggest that both bonding and bridging ties are important factors in the mental health of API undocumented young adults. Factors that facilitate these types of ties, such as DACA, can be effective interventions for improving mental health among this population.

Deferred depression? Mediation analysis of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and immigration enforcement among Undocumented Asian and Pacific Islander students

“…Counterintuitively, UndocuAPI with DACA are 2.66 times as likely to have experienced or know someone who experienced a raid than someone without DACA (95% CI: 1.31–5.40). UndocuAPI are less likely to apply for DACA compared with their Latina/x/o counterparts ( Migration Policy Institute, 2020 ) and UndocuAPI with DACA have more social ties ( Ro et al, 2021 ). Thus, it is likely that those with DACA are more connected to the undocumented community and potentially know more people who have experienced raids.…”

“…This paper uses data from the 2019 BRAVE (Building community Raising API Voices for health Equity) Study, as previously described by Ro et al (2021) . This survey data was collected online between June and August 2019 using Qualtrics.…”

“…As the fastest growing group in the United States, with complex immigration histories which are frequently omitted from health research, we center our analysis on undocumented Asian and Pacific Islander (API) (UndocuAPI) students ( Lee et al, 2018 ). UndocuAPI comprise 25% of undocumented students ( Feldblum et al, 2020 ), yet few studies have quantitatively evaluated the pathways through which immigration policy may shape their mental health ( Ro et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In a qualitative study with 32 (primarily Korean and Filipino) UndocuAPI, participants reported instances of trauma, intra- and inter-ethnic conflict, discrimination, and lack of social support and access to trained professionals ( Sudhinaraset, Ling, et al, 2017 ). Among UndocuAPI, isolation has been associated with higher odds of depression ( Ro et al, 2021 ). Additionally, the racialization of (predominantly East) Asians as model minorities and undocumented immigrants as criminal may produce dissonant identity development for UndocuAPI ( Hsin & Aptekar, 2021 ).…”

Redefining communities: The association between deferred action, online and offline social capital and depressive symptoms among undocumented young adults

“…The dependent variable was depressive symptoms as measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R) (Cronbach α = 0.86) ( Björgvinsson et al, 2013 ), which has been used among other young adult and immigrant populations ( Davila et al, 2014 , Stein et al, 2014 , Ro et al, 2021 ). Items are scored from “0″ (rarely or none of the time) to 3 (“all of the time”) to assess the frequency of depressive symptoms.…”