Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-28-2022
Abstract
Objective: This study examined the association between immigration legal status and distress from the announcement of the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program among individuals affected by this potentially traumatic event (PTE), along with identifying relevant risk factors.
Method: Participants (N = 233) affected by the termination announcement provided cross-sectional self-reports on distress from the announcement that was measured using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised.
Results: Of the participants, 40.7% met the clinical cutoff for distress from the PTE indicative of posttraumatic stress disorder. DACA recipients had significantly higher levels of distress from the PTE compared with non-DACA undocumented immigrants and documented counterparts, χ²(2, N = 233) = 23.25, p < .001. After controlling for covariates, being a DACA recipient (OR = 4.11, 95% confidence interval [1.99, 8.50], p < .001), being male (OR = 2.06, [1.05, 4.03], p = .035), and having lower financial security (OR = .54, [.38, .75], p < .001) were significantly associated with distress.
Conclusion: The future of DACA recipients is uncertain, which can be trauma inducing. The field of psychology needs to make space for this kind of experience as potentially traumatic. Advocacy efforts to shift immigration policies can be strengthened to alter the negative effects of the potential termination of DACA on those affected by it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Recommended Citation
Garcini, L. M., Domenech Rodríguez, M. M., Mercado, A., Silva, M., Cadenas, G., Galvan, T., & Paris, M. (2023). Anti-immigration policy and mental health: Risk of distress and trauma among deferred action for childhood arrivals recipients in the United States. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 15(7), 1067–1075. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001228
Publication Title
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
DOI
10.1037/tra0001228
Comments
© 2022, American Psychological Association. This manuscript is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the final, authoritative version of the article. Please do not copy or cite without authors’ permission. The final version of record is available via its DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0001228
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.