The power of family ties in immigrants' lives

Although Latino immigrants have come to form a fundamental part of the U.S. social fabric, we do not, from a research standpoint, have a complete understanding of the social causes of some of the most pressing issues that face this population (e.g., weak English language use, declining mental health, or low levels of trust in the U.S. government). Previous work has focused on degree of acculturation as a common explanation across the three issues, but this explanation falls short in its ability to guide social policy or suggest meaningful interventions. This dissertation moves beyond acculturation to investigate the complex family relationships in which immigrants are embedded. The three articles that comprise the dissertation expand the existing literature by drawing on cross-disciplinary frameworks and investigating both positive and negative influences of families. Two data sets are used: the 2003 New Immigrant Survey. Three findings stand out across the three chapters: 1. The effects, both positive and negative, of family ties on language acquisition and depression are generally stronger for women compared to men; 2. Ties to children tend to have more costs and fewer benefits in terms of mental health and language acquisition; and 3. Effects of acculturation are relatively weak on depression and political trust. A few important caveats to this work are that it is conducted with cross-sectional data, knowledge of what specifically is passed along the tie is not available, and the datasets do not include illegal immigrants

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Feeling Blue‟ in Spanish: A Qualitative Inquiry of Depression among

a b s t r a c t Studies of the cultural construction of depression among Mexican immigrant men in the USA are rare. This paper is a qualitative inquiry into how this population of men identifies depression and its perceived causes and remedies. Data were gathered from seven focus groups with a total of 38 adult Mexican immigrant men. Results indicate that depresión (depression) is a valid and familiar concept among this group. While the reporting of somatic symptoms does occur, it appears that interpersonal problems and affective symptoms are among the most salient in identifying someone as depressed. The causes are described as predominantly social in origin, arising directly out of the participants' experiences of immigration and adaptation. Similarly, the proposed remedies are primarily social in nature with an emphasis being put on help from the community, the family, or a professional. Colloquial terms are provided in both Spanish and English and direct quotes from the focus group discussions are included

"Feeling blue" in Spanish: A qualitative inquiry of depression among Mexican immigrants

Studies of the cultural construction of depression among Mexican immigrant men in the USA are rare. This paper is a qualitative inquiry into how this population of men identifies depression and its perceived causes and remedies. Data were gathered from seven focus groups with a total of 38 adult Mexican immigrant men. Results indicate that depresión (depression) is a valid and familiar concept among this group. While the reporting of somatic symptoms does occur, it appears that interpersonal problems and affective symptoms are among the most salient in identifying someone as depressed. The causes are described as predominantly social in origin, arising directly out of the participants' experiences of immigration and adaptation. Similarly, the proposed remedies are primarily social in nature with an emphasis being put on help from the community, the family, or a professional. Colloquial terms are provided in both Spanish and English and direct quotes from the focus group discussions are included.USA Depression Mexican immigrant Cultural competence Nervios Qualitative Cross-cultural Men

Good Enough Yet? A Preliminary Evaluation Of Human-Surrogate Interaction

Research exploring the implementation of surrogates has included areas such as training (Chuah et al., 2013), education (Yamashita, Kuzuoka, Fujimon, & Hirose, 2007), and entertainment (Boberg, Piippo, & Ollila, 2008). Determining the characteristics of the surrogate that could potentially influence the human\u27s behavioral responses during human-surrogate interactions is of importance. The present work will draw on the literature about human-robot interaction (HRI), social psychology literature regarding the impact that the presence of a surrogate has on another human, and communications literature about human-human interpersonal interaction. The review will result in an experimental design to evaluate various dimensions of the space of human-surrogate characteristics influence on interaction. © 2014 Springer International Publishing

Black Americans and Latino immigrants in a southern city: friendly neighbors or economic competitors?

Dramatic demographic changes are occurring in the United States, and some of the most dramatic changes are occurring in the South from Latino immigration. Latinos, by and large, are an entirely new population in the region. How are Black southerners reacting to this new population? Using survey data gathered from a southern location, this article explores several questions related to whether Blacks see these new residents as friendly neighbors or economic competitors. Results suggest that Blacks and non-Blacks perceive a potential economic threat from continued Latino immigration, but Blacks are more concerned about the effects of Latino immigration than are Whites

Racial distancing in a Southern city: Latino immigrants' views of black Americans

The United States is undergoing dramatic demographic change, primarily from immigration, and many of the new Latino immigrants are settling in the South. This paper examines hypotheses related to attitudes of Latino immigrants toward black Americans in a Southern city. The analyses are based on a survey of black, white, and Latino residents (n = 500). The results show, for the most part, Latino immigrants hold negative stereotypical views of blacks and feel that they have more in common with whites than with blacks. Yet, whites do not reciprocate in their feelings toward Latinos. Latinos' negative attitudes toward blacks, however, are modulated by a sense of linked fate with other Latinos. This research is important because the South still contains the largest population of African Americans in the United States, and no section of the country has been more rigidly defined along a black-white racial divide. How these new Latino immigrants situate themselves vis-à-vis black Americans has profound implications for the social and political fabric of the South

Black Elites and Latino Immigrant Relations in a Southern City: Do Black Elites and the Black Masses Agree?

The United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as a function of immigration, both legal and illegal, from Asia, Mexico, and Latin America. Latinos are the fastest growing population, and in 2000, Latinos replaced African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States. Although much of the media and scholarly attention has focused on demographic changes in traditional Latino immigrant destinations such as California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, the rapid growth in Latino populations is occurring across the nation. The South has undergone a particularly dramatic alteration in terms of racial composition, with six of seven states tripling the size of their Latino populations between 1990 and 2000. This settlement of Latinos in the South is no more than ten to fifteen years old, and new immigrants from Mexico and Latin America are settling in states like North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee (Durand, Massey, and Carvet 2000). They bring ethnic and cultural diversity to areas previously defined exclusively as black and white. Not only have new Latino populations migrated to urban and suburban locations in the South, they also have settled in small towns and rural areas, reinforcing projections of the “Latinization” of the American South. Examples of these “New Latino Destinations” (Suro and Singer 2000) include cities such as Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, Greensboro-Winston Salem, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; and Greenville, South Carolina

Importance of Baseline Prognostic Factors With Increasing Time Since Initiation of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: Collaborative Analysis of Cohorts of HIV-1-Infected Patients

Background: The extent to which the prognosis for AIDS and death of patients initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) continues to be affected by their characteristics at the time of initiation (baseline) is unclear. Methods: We analyzed data on 20,379 treatment-naive HIV-1- infected adults who started HAART in 1 of 12 cohort studies in Europe and North America (61,798 person-years of follow-up, 1844 AIDS events, and 1005 deaths). Results: Although baseline CD4 cell count became less prognostic with time, individuals with a baseline CD4 count 350 cells/μL (hazard ratio for AIDS = 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0 to 2.3; mortality hazard ratio = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.2 to 5.5, 4 to 6 years after starting HAART). Rates of AIDS were persistently higher in individuals who had experienced an AIDS event before starting HAART. Individuals with presumed transmission by means of injection drug use experienced substantially higher rates of AIDS and death than other individuals throughout follow-up (AIDS hazard ratio = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.8 to 3.0; mortality hazard ratio = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.2 to 5.5, 4 to 6 years after starting HAART). Conclusions: Compared with other patient groups, injection drug users and patients with advanced immunodeficiency at baseline experience substantially increased rates of AIDS and death up to 6 years after starting HAART