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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Mental Health of Undocumented Mexican Immigrants Living in High-Risk Neighborhoods Near the California-Mexico Border Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4rx729wt Author Garcini, Luz Maria Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Mental Health of Undocumented Mexican Immigrants Living in High-Risk Neighborhoods Near the California-Mexico Border A dissertation proposal submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology by Luz M. Garcini Committee in charge: San Diego State University Professor Elizabeth A. Klonoff, Chair Professor John P. Elder Professor Vanessa L. Malcarne University of California, San Diego Professor Neil Doran Professor Mark G. Myers Professor Monica D. Ulibarri 2016 Copyright Luz M. Garcini, 2016 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Luz M. Garcini is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair San Diego State University University of California, San Diego 2016 iii DEDICATION Este trabajo está dedicado a mi familia, en especial a mis hijos. Thania y Baruch, ustedes son mi motor y mi empuje. Mi trabajo y mi vida entera están dedicados a ustedes. Humberto, gracias por ser parte de mi historia y el apoyo económico durante mi desarrollo académico. A mis hermanos, Carlos y Ana, gracias por existir, a mis padres Luz y Carlos, gracias por darme el ser, y a mi papa Roberto por sus constantes llamadas en momentos difíciles. Richard Alter, gracias por tu paciencia cuando mas lo necesitaba. Margaret Kahn, Marina y Issac Plon, Abel Gomez, Rosa Zepeda, mi pastor Jesus Ponce y Lety Ponce, y a toda mi familia en el Centro de Fé, gracias porque cada uno de ustedes me ha ayudo a levantar cuando me cuesta trabajo caminar. Benito y Clarita, gracias por su constante compañia durante largas horas de trabajo. Nunca me han dejado sola. Tambien especial dedicatoria para los millones de imigrantes indocumentados que luchan día a día en este país por salir adelante. Gracias por producir y servirnos la comida que comemos, por mantener y cuidar las casas en las que vivimos, por atender y velar por nuestros hijos y familias como si fueran propias, pero sobre todo, gracias por ser un vivo ejemplo de que “ Si se puede !” Gloria, te recuerdo y tu muerte no fue en vano. Gracias por darme un propósito! Pero sobre todo, este trabajo es dedicado a Dios por ser mi roca, mi guía y mi esperanza. “Porque yo sé muy bien los planes que tengo para tí —afirma el Señor—, planes de bienestar y no de calamidad, a fin de darte un futuro y una esperanza” (Jeremias, 29:11) iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................v List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables .......................................................................................................................x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi Vita .................................................................................................................................... xii Abstract of the Dissertation ............................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 1.1 The Foreign-Born Mexican Population in the United States .............................2 1.2 Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in the United States ................................4 Chapter 2: Background and Significance ............................................................................6 2.1 Mental Health of Undocumented Immigrants ...................................................6 2.2 Summary and Limitations of Prior Research .....................................................7 2.3 Immigration-Related Risk Factors .....................................................................8 Chapter 3: Culture and Context Sensitive Mental Health Assessment ..............................13 3.1 Paradigm Shift to the Study of Mental Health among Immigrant Populations .............................................................................................................13 3.2 Culture and Context Sensitive Assessments ....................................................14 3.3 Cultural Concepts of Distress among Latinos .................................................14 3.4 Contextual Concepts of Distress among Undocumented Immigrants .............19 Chapter 4: Theoretical Framework and Aims of the Study ...............................................22 4.1 The Socio-Ecologic Framework and the Minority Stress Model ....................22 4.2 Specific Aims of the Present Study .................................................................22 Chapter 5: Methods ............................................................................................................24 5.1 Formative Research .........................................................................................24 5.2 Respondent Driven Sampling ..........................................................................24 5.3 Study Location .................................................................................................29 5.4 Participants .......................................................................................................30 v 5.5 Procedures ........................................................................................................31 5.6 Pilot Testing .....................................................................................................32 5.7 Measures ..........................................................................................................33 5.8 Data Analytic Plan ...........................................................................................44 Chapter 6: Results ..............................................................................................................46 6.1 Formative Research .........................................................................................46 6.2 Pilot Testing .....................................................................................................48 6.3 Participant Characteristics in RDS Study ........................................................50 6.4 Prevalence of Psychological Distress in RDS Study .......................................51 6.5 Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders in RDS Study ....................................52 6.6 Prevalence of Nervios and Ataque de Nervios in RDS Study ..........................53 6.7 Prevalence of Ulysses Syndrome in RDS Study ..............................................56 Chapter 7: Discussion ........................................................................................................59 7.1 Prevalence of Psychological Distress ..............................................................59 7.2 Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders Based on DSM Criteria ....................63 7.3 Prevalence of Nervios and Ataque de Nervios .................................................67 7.4 Prevalence of Ulysses Syndrome ..................................................................... 68 7.5 Inequities in Mental Health between UMIs and Deportees .............................70 7.6 Summary ..........................................................................................................70 7.7 Limitations .......................................................................................................72 7.8 Directions for Future Research ........................................................................73 7.9 Conclusions ......................................................................................................74 References ..........................................................................................................................75 Figures................................................................................................................................87 Tables .................................................................................................................................95 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACA Affordable Care