Latina/o Children Living With an Immigrant Mother With Depression: Developmental and Cultural Nuances in Recognition and Coping

• Date: 01 December 2019
• Author: Stephanie D'Costa,Carmen R. Valdez,Christopher R. Raines,Kevin D. Davies
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12398
• Published date: 01 December 2019

Latina/o Children Living With an Immigrant Mother

With Depression: Developmental and Cultural

Nuances in Recognition and Coping

CARMEN R. VALDEZ*

CHRISTOPHER R. RAINES

†

KEVIN D. DAVIES

†

STEPHANIE D’COSTA

†

The psychological experience of maternal depression and its impact on immigrant

Latina/o families often goes unrecognized and unaddressed. Children may feel especially

helpless and confused about the changes they observe in their mothers’ mood and behavior,

and about the deterioration of family relationships. Given the interdependence of family

structures of immigrant Latina/o households, maternal depression can be detrimental to

Latina/o youth attributions and coping strategies, and to their relationship with their

mothers. The quantitative focus of most research on maternal depression in Latina/o sam-

ples limits our understanding of family processes in maternal depression. The current

qualitative study explores the perceived impact of maternal depression on Latina/o youths’

attributions and coping strategies. This inquiry involved focus groups with 12 participants

aged 9–16 year s to explore their perspectives on maternal depression. All youth had partici-

pated in a 12-week multifamily group intervention focused on building family and cultural

strengths to address maternal depression on immigrant Latina/o families. Findings of the

focus groups illuminated the essential experience of youth living with maternal depression,

and indicated that there are developmental considerations for how youth recognize and

make meaning of maternal depression, and cope with disrupted family life. Additionally,

youth reported engaging in these culture-specific ways of coping: using close sibling rela-

tionships and family structure as support, having fathers and extended family members

engage in additional and restorative parenting practices, and participating in religious

practices to seek refuge from family stress. We propose considerations for intervention and

further areas of research.

Keywords: Maternal Depression; Latina/o Youth; Childhood Coping; Family Support

Fam Proc 58:986–1002, 2019

Economic pressure, anti-immigrant climate, acculturative stress, and exposure to

interpersonal trauma can destabilize Latina immigrant mothers’ psychological well-

being (Heilemann, Coffey-Love, & Frutos, 2004; Valdez, Abegglen, & Hauser, 2013). These

cumulative stressors have been associated with increased risk for depression among

women, a concern given the large percentage of children living in immigrant Latina/o

*Steve Hicks School of Social Work, Department of Population Health, University of Texas at Austin,

Austin, TX.

†

University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Carmen R. Valdez, Ph.D., Associate Pro-

fessor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, Department of Population Health, University of Texas at

Austin, 1701 Trinity Street, Austin, TX, 78712. E-mail: crvaldez@utexas.edu.

986

Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 4, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12398

households (Falicov, 2007). In spite of the burden on women and the negative effects of

maternal depression on youth and family relationships, immigrant Latina/o families

report low rates of mental health service utilization (Cabassa, Zayas, & Hansen, 2006).

Thus, the needs of youth living with mothers with depression may largely go unaddressed.

To promote resilience among youth, we must understand how they experience their home

environments, make meaning of their mothers’ condition, and cope with disrupted family

life. Our study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the experiences of youth

who had previously participated in a family-focused program for Latina mothers with

depression and the family.

IMPACT OF MATERNAL DEPRESSION ON YOUTH

Maternal depression can contribute to poor outcomes for Latina/o children. Corona,

Lefkowitz, Sigman, and Romo (2005) found that Mexican-origin youth with mothers with

depressive symptoms had higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behavior, and

substance abuse than Mexican-origin youth with asymptomatic mothers. Maternal

depression has been a more direct and stable predictor of Latina/o youth mental health

outcomes than economic pressure (Dennis, Parke, Coltrane, Blacher, & Borthwick-Duffy,

2003) and community violence (Aisenberg, Trickett, Mennen, Saltzman, & Zayas, 2007).

Aside from genetic factors, maternal depression largely affects youth through parental

modeling of emotion regulation, and disruption in parenting, and family relationships and

climate (Morris, Criss, Silk, & Houltberg, 2017). These disruptions may be especially

detrimental for Latina/o youth for whom familismo reinforces family cohesion and

children’s dependence on mothers (Corona et al., 2005; Valdez, Abegglen et al., 2013).

If maternal depression harms many preadolescent and adolescent Latina/os, research

needs to illuminate the processes by which maternal depression harms youth. The body of

literature and our own work with Latina/o families show that youth react to maternal

depression with confusion, concern, and fear. They observe their mothers becoming

increasingly withdrawn and self-absorbed, and vacillating from nurturing to irritable,

warm to hostile (Dunbar et al., 2013; Valdez, Abegglen et al., 2013). These changes often

prompt children to blame themselves and to assume responsibility for the mother and the

family’s well-being (Beardslee, Gladstone, Wright, & Cooper, 2003). Unaddressed, these

cumulative experiences can strain children’s psychological well-being and generate stress-

ful experiences later in life (Beardslee et al., 2003).

To illustrate how family influences Latina/o youths’ understanding of maternal depres-

sion, Aguasaco-M

endez, Albornoz-Salas, and P

erez-Olmos (2010) interviewed youth in

Colombia. The authors found youths’ understanding was a function of direct information

they received from adults. However, much of that information was inaccurate, such as

blaming another adult or an external event for a mother’s depression. Children perceived

adults as generally reluctant to discuss a mother’s depression. The study illuminates the

importance of accurate information about depression from adults in the meaning making

of preadolescent and adolescent youth. Research is needed to better understand the expe-

riences of Latina/o youth from immigrant families in the United States and how they cope

with maternal depression.

Youth Coping and Maternal Depression

Youth use many strategies to cope with stressful environments with varying degrees of

effectiveness based on the level of control they have over the situation and wider environ-

ment (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001). Youth use

active or primary coping strategies such as support-seeking, self-reliance, and problem

Fam. Proc., Vol. 58, December, 2019

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