Reanne Frank

Latino Immigrants and the U.S. Racial Order: How and Where Do They Fit In?

How do Latino immigrants in the United States understand existing racial categories? And how does the existing U.S. racial order influence this understanding? Using data from the New Immigrant Survey (NIS), our analysis points to changes in how the U.S. racial order might operate in the future. We find that most Latino immigrants recognize the advantages of a White racial designation when asked to self-identify, but wider society is not often accepting of this White expansion. Our findings suggest that relatively darker-skinned Latino immigrants experience skin-color-based discrimination in the realm of annual income. Furthermore, Latinos who are most integrated into the United States are the most likely to opt out of the existing U.S. racial categorization scheme. We predict that a racial boundary is forming around some Latino immigrants: those with darker skin and those who have more experience in the U.S. racial stratification system.

Acculturation and acculturation stress: a social-epidemiological approach to Mexican migrant farmworkers health.

Utilizing a cluster sampling design to maximize representativeness, we look at the health effects of acculturation and acculturation stressors among 1,001 adult migrant farmworkers in Fresno, California. Using self-ratings of mental and physical health as well as the CES-D depression scale, we find that the amount of time one spends in the United States, the level of English-language usage, as well as the intensity of acculturation stresses that one reports, are all related to declines in health. In addition, acculturation stress has more deleterious effects on self-rated health (both physical and mental) among the more highly acculturated.

Barrios and Burbs: Residential Context and Health-Risk Behaviors among Angeleno Adolescents.

The increasing size of the Latino immigrant population in the United States underscores the need for a more complete understanding of the role that social context plays in influencing the health of immigrants and their children. This analysis explores the possibility that residential location influences the health-risk behaviors of Latino youth in Los Angeles County, California. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. We apply multivariate, multilevel Rasch models to two scales of adolescent health-risk behaviors (substance use and delinquency). The findings suggest that residence in Census tracts characterized by above-county-average levels of Latinos and above-county-average levels of poverty is associated with increased odds of health-risk behaviors for Latino adolescents, particularly for those born in the United States. The findings lend support to the contention, put forth in the segmented assimilation literature, that disadvantaged urban contexts increase the risk that U.S.-born children of immigrants will experience downward assimilation.

The Grass Widows of Mexico: Migration and Union Dissolution in a Binational Context

This article provides an empirical test of the widely accepted assumption that migration contributes to union instability. The data come from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) data base MMP93. We use multilevel discrete time event history analysis to specify the odds of union dissolution for male household heads by individual- and community-level U.S. migration experience. In the context of the U.S.-Mexico migration flow, we find that U.S. migration significantly increases the odds of union dissolution for individuals with extensive migration experience as well as for residents in communities with medium international migration levels. We conclude that changes in normative values and social control levels, for both individuals and communities, are partial contributors to this relationship.

International migration and infant health in Mexico.

This paper examines the flip side of the epidemiological paradox, namely the relationship between international migration experience and positive infant health outcomes in Mexico. Building upon past research that has explored the role of economic remittances in contributing to the positive relationship between international migration and birth outcomes in sending country communities, the present analysis focuses on the noneconomic effects of paternal migration experience on infant health. The data come from a hospital-based postpartum survey (HPS 2001) recently completed in two high-migrant sending states of Western Mexico. The findings demonstrate that the positive effect of international migration on infant health occurs in the context of considerable loss of social support and high stress levels. Socioeconomic improvements facilitated by the receipt of remittances, coupled with positive health behaviors, are two factors that contribute to this protective effect.

Low birth weight in Mexico: New evidence from a multi-site postpartum hospital survey

OBJECTIVE To identify factors related to cases of low birth weight among a sample of Mexican women. MATERIAL AND METHODS The present analysis utilizes data from a post partum survey of 565 women implemented in eight different social security hospitals in western Mexico during 2001. Women giving birth to low weight infants (2.5 kgs) were oversampled and make up half of the sample. RESULTS A series of logistic regression equations are presented that estimate the risk of low birth weight. Study findings indicate that, although behavioral factors appear to be highly significant in predicting the odds of low birth weight, socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors were found to be important in determining utilization of prenatal care. CONCLUSIONS The key role of behavioral characteristics in determining low birth weight risk and the role of socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors in determining prenatal care usage highlights the need to improve prenatal care utilization by disadvantaged populations.

Could "acculturation" effects be explained by latent health disadvantages among Mexican immigrants?

This paper tests portions of a new theory of immigrant health by focusing exclusively on latent biomarkers of future health risks. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 1988–1994 – we uncover the typically observed immigrant health advantage among recent immigrants that diminishes among long-term immigrants. In addition, we observe worse health among U.S.-born Mexican Americans relative to non-Hispanic Whites. Finally, although our theory suggests that recent immigrants may have latent health risks due to disadvantaged childhood experiences, we do not find evidence in support of this theory.

The Relationship Between Remittances and Health Care Provision in Mexico

OBJECTIVES We examined whether remittances sent from the United States to Mexico were used to access health care in Mexico. METHODS Data were from a 2006 survey of 2 localities in the municipal city of Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. We used logistic regression to determine whether household remittance expenditure on health care was associated with type of health insurance coverage. RESULTS Individuals who lacked insurance coverage or who were covered by the Seguro Popular program were significantly more likely to reside in households that spend remittances on health care than were individuals covered by an employer-based insurance program. CONCLUSIONS Improving the coverage and quality of care within Mexicos health care system will help ensure that remittances serve as a complement, and not a substitute, to formal access to care.

U.S. Migration, Translocality, and the Acceleration of the Nutrition Transition in Mexico

Migrant flows are generally accompanied by extensive social, economic, and cultural links between origins and destinations, transforming the formers community life, livelihoods, and local practices. Previous studies have found a positive association between these translocal ties and better child health and nutrition. We contend that focusing on children only provides a partial view of a larger process affecting community health, accelerating the nutrition transition in particular. We use a Mexican nationally representative survey with socioeconomic, anthropometric, and biomarker measures, matched to municipal-level migration intensity and marginalization measures from the Mexican 2000 Census to study the association between adult body mass and community migration intensity. Our findings from multilevel models suggest a significant and positive relationship between community-level migration intensity and the individual risk of being overweight and obese, with significant differences by gender and with remittance intensity playing a preponderant role.

A tale of two cities: Residential context and risky behavior among adolescents in Los Angeles and Chicago

This article evaluates whether the at-risk behavior of adolescents is differentially influenced by community context across two metropolitan areas. Our focus is on Latino youth in particular. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS) and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Multi-level models are employed to estimate the effects of community-level influences on adolescent risky behavior in Los Angeles and Chicago. Neighborhood-level influences on the at-risk behavior of youth are found to operate similarly across the two cities, such that native-born children of Latino immigrants are at greatest risk of problem behavior in co-ethnic highly segregated neighborhoods in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Similar patterns are observed for African-Americans, particularly in Chicago and Non-Latino Whites in both cities. We argue that the findings are best interpreted through a segregation framework. Members of each racial/ethnic group appear to exhibit negative health risk behaviors when they reside in areas that are disproportionately populated with their co-ethnic peers.