Mental health status among Mexican immigrants to the U.S.

Since 1970, the total number of immigrants entering the United States (U.S.) each year has steadily increased. By 2000, 31.1 million immigrants were living in the U.S. representing 11 percent of the total U.S. population. Evidence suggests that a number of factors related to the experience of immigration can have dramatic effects on the mental health status of immigrants. These include an adverse political climate, the presence of violence, and the experience of economic hardship. Compounding poor mental health status is the fact that immigrants of Mexican origin vastly underutilize mental health services due to sociocultural and structural barriers. These issues are relevant to the field of public health as they represent significant determinants of poor health and also outline significant barriers to access. \ud The socioecological model was used as a framework for identifying and evaluating interventions aimed at addressing the mental health needs of Mexican immigrants. Consequently, eight interventions were identified and analyzed according to characteristics of the research design and the program proposed.\ud Strengths of the interventions include directly targeting beliefs and stigma surrounding mental health and targeting multiple levels of socioecological influence. Limitations include the overall scarcity of interventions and the failure to address subgroups of the population\ud Future research should focus on experiences unique to men and the elderly and include preventative measures to reduce disparities within this population.\u