Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Child Immigration from Both Sides of the Border: Implications for Trauma-Informed Practices in the Schools

  • Systematic Review
  • Published:
Contemporary School Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many children as young as 7 years old journey across Central America to the USA, facing danger and uncertainty that influence their later physical and emotional development and socialization. This paper synthesizes the literature on the experiences of unaccompanied immigrant children from Latin America traveling to the USA, how the trauma of immigration can manifest in their development, and offers evidence-informed strategies that mental health service providers in the schools can implement. Results show that the initial negative events that promote immigration along with traumatic experiences during their migration journey suggest that child immigrants may be at a higher risk to experience acculturation-based problems, discrimination-based problems, and trauma-based difficulties. School psychologists are at the frontline of this crisis and need adequate resources and tools to respond to the needs of a segment of the school population that is increasingly at risk for serious mental health and poor socio-emotional outcomes. More research in this area is needed, especially as it applies to a school setting. Implications for interventions are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Act, E. S. S. (2015). Of 2015, pub. L, 114-95.

  • Albeg, L. J., & Castro-Olivo, S. M. (2014). The relationship between mental health, acculturative stress, and academic performance in a Latino middle school sample. Contemporary School Psychology, 18(3), 178–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, K., Kern, M. L., Vella-Brodrick, D., Hattie, J., & Waters, L. (2018). What schools need to know about fostering school belonging: a meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30, 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, A. C., & Ferreira, R. J. (2017). Implementing cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools (CBITS) with Latino youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 34(2), 181–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amador, N. G., Guillén Ochoa, S. G., Sánchez Moreno, D., Domenech Rodríguez, M., & Baumann, A. (2012). CAPAS-Mx: Criando con Amor promoviendo armonía y superación en México. Distrito Federal, México: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, INPRFM.

  • American Psychological Association. (2012). Crossroads: the psychology of immigration in the new century. APA presidential task force on immigration. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved August 21, 2012, from http://www.apa.org.srv-proxy1.library.tamu.edu/topics/immigration/immigration-report.pdf

  • Anda, R. F., Felitti, V. J., Bremner, J. D., Walker, J. D., Whitfield, C. H., Perry, B. D., & Giles, W. H. (2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174–186.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aston, C., & Graves Jr, S. (2016, June). Challenges and Barriers to Implementing a School-Based Afrocentric Intervention in Urban Schools: A Pilot Study of the Sisters of Nia Cultural Program. In School Psychology Forum (Vol. 10, No. 2).

  • Barrera Jr., M., Castro, F. G., Strycker, L. A., & Toobert, D. J. (2013). Cultural adaptations of behavioral health interventions: a progress report. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(2), 196–205.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, A., Cabassa, L. J., & Stirman, S. W. (2017). Adaptation in dissemination and implementation science. Dissemination and implementation research in health: translating science to practice, 2, 286–300.

  • Bean, T., Derluyn, I., Eurelings-Bontekoe, E., Broekaert, E., & Spinhoven, P. (2007). Comparing psychological distress, traumatic stress reactions, and experiences of unaccompanied refugee minors with experiences of adolescents accompanied by parents. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(4), 288–297.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beehler, S., Birman, D., & Campbell, R. (2012). The effectiveness of cultural adjustment and trauma services (CATS): generating practice-based evidence on a comprehensive, school-based mental health intervention for immigrant youth. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 155–168.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernal, G., Bonilla, J., & Bellido, C. (1995). Ecological validity and cultural sensitivity for outcome research: Issues for the cultural adaptation and development of psychosocial treatments with Hispanics. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(1), 67–82.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W. (1992). Acculturation and adaptation in a new society. International Migration, 30, 69–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanco-Vega, C., Castro Olivo, S., & Merrell, K. (2008). Social and emotional needs of Latino immigrant students: an ecological model for developing, planning and implementing culturally sensitive interventions. Journal of Latinos and Education, 7(1), 43–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brigden, N., & Mainwaring, Ċ. (2016). Matryoshka journeys: im/mobility during migration. Geopolitics, 21(2), 407–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bustamante, L. H. U., Cerqueira, R. O., Leclerc, E., & Brietzke, E. (2018). Stress, trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder in migrants: a comprehensive review. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 40(2), 220–225.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cabassa, L. J., & Baumann, A. A. (2013). A two-way street: bridging implementation science and culturaladaptations of mental health treatments. Implementation Science, 8(1), 90.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Castro-Olivo, S. M. (2014). Promoting social-emotional learning in adolescent Latino ELLs: a study of the culturally adapted strong teens program. School Psychology Quarterly, 29(4), 567–577.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chavez, L., & Menjívar, C. (2017). Children without borders: a mapping of the literature on unaccompanied migrant children to the United States. Migraciones internacionales, 5(18), 71–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chithambo, T. P., Huey Jr., S. J., & Cespedes-Knadle, Y. (2014). Perceived discrimination and Latino youth adjustment: examining the role of relinquished control and sociocultural influences. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 2(1), 54–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleary, S. D., Snead, R., Dietz-Chavez, D., Rivera, I., & Edberg, M. C. (2018). Immigrant trauma and mental health outcomes among Latino youth. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(5), 1053–1059.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, C. L., Meca, A., Branscombe, N. R., Schwartz, S. J., Xie, D., Zea, M. C., Fernandez, C. A., & Sanders, G. L. (2019). Perceived discrimination and well-being among unauthorized Hispanic immigrants: The moderating role of ethnic/racial group identity centrality. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(2), 280–287. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000227.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. R., & Danielson, C. K. (2016). Effects of childhood traumatic event experiences. Critical issues in school- based mental health: evidence-based research, practice, and interventions, 164-176.

  • Cohen, J. A., Mannarino, A. P., & Deblinger, E. (2006). Treating trauma and traumatic grief in childhood and adolescence.

  • Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos (2016). Informe Sobre la Problemática de Niñas, Niños, y Adolescentes Centroamericanos en Contexto de Migración Internacional No Acompañados en su Tránsito por México, y con Consideraciones de Protección Internacional. Mexico City: Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos. Retrieved from http://www.cndh.org.mx/ sites/all/doc/Informes/Especiales/Informe_NNACMNA.pdf.

  • Costantino, G., Primavera, L. H., Malgady, R. G., & Costantino, E. (2014). Culturally oriented trauma treatments for Latino children post 9/11. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 7(4), 247–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crouch, E., Radcliff, E., Hung, P., & Bennett, K. (2019). Challenges to school success and the role of adverse childhood experiences. Academic pediatrics

  • Danese, A., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Adverse childhood experiences, allostasis, allostatic load, and age-related disease. Physiology & Behavior, 106(1), 29–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Arellano, M. A., Andrews III, A. R., Reid-Quiñones, K., Vasquez, D., Doherty, L. S., Danielson, C. K., & Rheingold, A. (2018). Immigration trauma among Hispanic youth: missed by trauma assessments and predictive of depression and PTSD symptoms. Journal of Latina/o psychology, 6(3), 159–174.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franco, D. (2018). Trauma without borders: the necessity for school-based interventions in treating unaccompanied refugee minors. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 35(6), 551–565.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, P. (2014). Children on the run: unaccompanied children leaving Central America and Mexico and the need for international protection. New York: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

  • Graves Jr., S. L., Herndon-Sobalvarro, A., Nichols, K., Aston, C., Ryan, A., Blefari, A., Schutte, K., Schachner, A., Vicoria, L., & Prier, D. (2017). Examining the effectiveness of a culturally adapted social-emotional intervention for African American males in an urban setting. School Psychology Quarterly, 32(1), 62–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra, R., Rodrigues, R. B., Aguiar, C., Carmona, M., Alexandre, J., & Lopes, R. C. (2019). School achievement and well-being of immigrant children: the role of acculturation orientations and perceived discrimination. Journal of School Psychology, 75, 104–118.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Güleç, M. Y., Altintaş, M., İnanç, L., Bezgin, Ç. H., Koca, E. K., & Güleç, H. (2013). Effects of childhood trauma on somatization in major depressive disorder: the role of alexithymia. Journal of Affective Disorders, 146(1), 137–141.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatchel, T., Valido, A., De Pedro, K. T., Huang, Y., & Espelage, D. L. (2019). Minority stress among transgender adolescents: the role of peer victimization, school belonging, and ethnicity. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(9), 2467–2476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernández, M. M., Robins, R. W., Widaman, K. F., & Conger, R. D. (2017). Ethnic pride, self-esteem, and school belonging: a reciprocal analysis over time. Developmental Psychology, 53(12), 2384–2396. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000434.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Herrington, O., & Sutcliffe, L. L. P. (2009). Halfway home: Unaccompanied children in immigration custody.

  • Hill, D. J., Blanco Martinez, S., Mejia, Y., Kulish, A. L., Cavanaugh, A. M., & Stein, G. L. (2018). Depressive symptoms in Latina mothers in an emerging immigrant community. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

  • Huh, H. J., Kim, K. H., Lee, H. K., & Chae, J. H. (2017). The relationship between childhood trauma and the severity of adulthood depression and anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample: the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Journal of Affective Disorders, 213, 44–50.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, A., & Shklyan K. (2016). Unaccompanied minors—the state and local story. Retrieved from https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/04/14/unaccompanied-minors-the-state-and-local-story

  • Jeynes, W. H. (2017). A meta-analysis: the relationship between parental involvement and Latino student outcomes. Education and Urban Society, 49(1), 4–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kliethermes, M., & Wamser, R. (2012). Adolescents with complex trauma. Trauma-focused CBT for children and adolescents: Treatment applications, 175-196.

  • Kohn, R., Levav, I., Vicente, B., Andrade, L., Caraveo-Anduaga, J. J., Saxena, S., & Saraceno, B. (2005). Mental disorders in Latin America and the Caribbean: a public health priority. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 18(4–5), 229–240.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuperminc, G. P. (2013). Wgical functioning of Latino youth from immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(2), 173.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuperminc, G. P., Darnell, A. J., & Alvarez-Jimenez, A. (2008). Parent involvement in the academic adjustment of Latino middlilkins

  • Li, S. S., Liddell, B. J., & Nickerson, A. (2016). The relationship between post-migration stress and psychological disorders in refugees and asylum seekers. Current Psychiatry Reports, 18(9), 82.

    Google Scholar 

  • López Castro, G. (2007). Niños, socialización y migración a Estados Unidos. Marina Ariza y Alejandro Portes (coords.), El país transnacional. Migración mexicana y cambio social a través de la frontera, IIS-UNAM, México, 545-570.

  • Lovato, K. (2019). Forced separations: a qualitative examination of how Latino/a adolescents cope with parental deportation. Children and Youth Services Review, 98, 42–50 http://doi-org.srv-proxy2.library.tamu.edu/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.012.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell, C. G., & Valentino, K. (2016). Intergenerational effects of childhood trauma: evaluating pathways among maternal ACEs, perinatal depressive symptoms, and infant outcomes. Child Maltreatment, 21(4), 317–326.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nader, K., & Fletcher, K. E. (2014, 2010). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder. Child psychopathology, 476–528.

  • National Association of School Psychologists (2010). Immigrant families: Strategies for support. Retrieved from https://www.nasponline.org/Documents/Resources%20and%20Publications/Handouts/Families%20and%20Educators/Immigrant_FamiliesJan10_NASSP.pdf

  • Ní Raghallaigh, M., & Gilligan, R. (2010). Active survival in the lives of unaccompanied minors: coping strategies, resilience, and the relevance of religion. Child & Family Social Work, 15(2), 226–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz-Hernández, L., López-Moreno, S., & Borges, G. (2007). Desigualdad socioeconómica y salud mental: revisión de la literatura latinoamericana. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 23, 1255–1272.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Plumb, J. L., Bush, K. A., & Kersevich, S. E. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools: an evidence-based approach. School Social Work Journal, 40(2), 37–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porche, M. V., Fortuna, L. R., Lin, J., & Alegria, M. (2011). Childhood trauma and psychiatric disorders as correlates of school dropout in a national sample of young adults. Child Development, 82(3), 982–998.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Potochnick, S. R., & Perreira, K. M. (2010). Depression and anxiety among first-generation immigrant Latino youth: key correlates and implications for future research. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 198(7), 470–477.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Reinbergs, E. J., & Fefer, S. A. (2018). Addressing trauma in schools: multitiered service delivery options for practitioners. Psychology in the Schools, 55(3), 250–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, B. A., Hendrix, C. L., Krakovsky, H. S., Smith, A. K., & Brennan, P. A. (2019). Maternal trauma exposure and childhood anxiety outcomes: examining psychosocial mechanisms of risk. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(4), 645–657.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roche, C., & Kuperminc, G. P. (2012). Acculturative stress and school belonging among Latino youth. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 34(1), 61–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, F. A., & Dawkins, M. (2017). Undocumented Latino youth: migration experiences and the challenges of integrating into American society. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 18(2), 419–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serrano-Villar, M., & Calzada, E. J. (2016). Ethnic identity: evidence of protective effects for young, Latino children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 42, 21–30.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Seugling, C. J. (2004). Toward a comprehensive response to the transnational migration of unaccompanied minors in the United States. Vand. J. Transnat'l L., 37, 861.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigel, B. A., Kramer, T. L., Conners-Burrow, N. A., Church, J. K., Worley, K. B., & Mitrani, N. A. (2013). Statewide dissemination of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). Children and Youth Services Review, 35(6), 1023–1029.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steel, Z., Silove, D., Phan, T., & Bauman, A. (2002). Long-term effect of psychological trauma on the mental health of Vietnamese refugees resettled in Australia: a population-based study. The Lancet, 360(9339), 1056–1062.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, G. L., Gonzalez, L. M., & Huq, N. (2012). Cultural stressors and the hopelessness model of depressive symptoms in Latino adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(10), 1339–1349.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, G. L., Supple, A. J., Huq, N., Dunbar, A. S., & Prinstein, M. J. (2016). A longitudinal examination of perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms in ethnic minority youth: the roles of attributional style, positive ethnic/racial affect, and emotional reactivity. Developmental Psychology, 52(2), 259–271.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tillery, A. D., Varjas, K., Roach, A. T., Kuperminc, G. P., & Meyers, J. (2013). The importance of adult connections in adolescents’ sense of school belonging: Implications for schools and practitioners. Journal of School Violence, 12(2), 134–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF (2017). A child is a child. Protecting children on the move from violence, abuse and exploitation. https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/UNICEF_A_child_is_a_child_May_2017_EN.pdf

  • United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division [UNHCR] (2015). Trends in International Migrant Stock: the 2015 revision (United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2015).

  • Unterhitzenberger, J., Eberle-Sejari, R., Rassenhofer, M., Sukale, T., Rosner, R., & Goldbeck, L. (2015). Trauma- focused cognitive behavioral therapy with unaccompanied refugee minors: a case series. BMC Psychiatry, 15(1), 260.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S. E., Borba, C. P., Dixon, L., Vaewsorn, A. S., Guajardo, J. G., Resick, P. A., Wiltsey-Stirman, S., & Marques, L. (2017). Cognitive processing therapy for Spanish-speaking Latinos: a formative study of a model-driven cultural adaptation of the manual to enhance implementation in a usual care setting. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(3), 239–256.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vásquez, D., Ponte, L., Andrews, A. R., Garcia, E., Terrazas-Carrillo, E., Ojeda, L., & De Arellano, M. A. (2019). Más Allá De Las Barreras: competency and practice considerations in language, cultural, and social issues when delivering group CPT to Hispanic immigrants. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 1–32.

  • Yomtov, D., Plunkett, S. W., Sands, T., & Reid, A. (2015). Parenting and ninth graders’ self-efficacy and relational self-esteem in latino immigrant families. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 43(3), 269–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoon, E., Chang, C. T., Kim, S., Clawson, A., Cleary, S. E., Hansen, M., Chan & Gomes, A. M. (2013). A meta-analysis of acculturation/enculturation and mental health. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(1), 15.

  • Zeiders, K. H., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Derlan, C. L. (2013). Trajectories of depressive symptoms and self-esteem in Latino youths: examining the role of gender and perceived discrimination. Developmental Psychology, 49(5), 951–963. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028866.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zong, J. & Batalova, J., 2019. How many unauthorized immigrants graduate from U.S. high schools annually? Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Carolina Davila, Daphne Hill, Anita Sohn McCormick Ph.D. & Anna L. Villarreal M.Ed.

Authors
  1. Carolina Davila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daphne Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anita Sohn McCormick Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anna L. Villarreal M.Ed.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carolina Davila.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Davila, C., Hill, D., Sohn McCormick, A. et al. Child Immigration from Both Sides of the Border: Implications for Trauma-Informed Practices in the Schools. Contemp School Psychol 24, 469–477 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00286-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00286-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation