Download or read book The Impact of Policy Change on Self-rated Mental Health Among Hispanic and Latino Immigrants written by Alejandra H. Reyna and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The immigrant paradox theorizes that foreign nativity protects against a host of stressors, such as discrimination and acculturative stress, and negative mental health outcomes in individuals living in a new host country (Burnham Hough, Karno, Escobar, & Telles, 1987). This theory has been used to explain why, despite risk factors, stressors, and challenges immigrants face when moving to a new country, they exhibit lower rates of depressive symptoms and other mental health problems and greater well-being than U.S. born Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) (Alegria et al., 2007; Garcia-Coll & Marks, 2012; Markides & Coreil, 1986). Current research indicates that the protective nature of this paradox may be limited (Brabeck, Lykes & Hunter, 2014). Additionally, anti-immigrant policies may attenuate the protective effect of the paradox (Hatzenbuehhler et al., 2017). In the present study, we examined the role various factors, such as ethnic identity, acculturative and immigrant stress, discrimination, and citizenship status, play in predicting Hispanic immigrants’ psychological distress and well-being. Participants were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and self-identified as Hispanic or Latino immigrants aged 18 and older (N = 56) who either reported being U.S. citizens (N = 38) or non-U.S. citizens (N = 17). We found that discrimination and ethnic affiliation emerged as important predictors in Hispanic immigrants’ well-being and distress. Furthermore, the relevance of immigration policy in predicting anxiety, distress, and lower well-being was supported by current findings. Contrary to our hypotheses we did not find that citizenship or acculturation played a significant role in predicting distress or well-being in this sample. These findings raise important and practical implications for those working with and better understanding of Hispanic immigrants. Further results, implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.