Erika Arenas Velazquez - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Erika Arenas Velazquez

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Background Assessing change and comparing groups requires high quality and invariant scales. Howe... more Background Assessing change and comparing groups requires high quality and invariant scales. However, there is limited evidence of simultaneous longitudinal and gender measurement invariance for depression scales. This evidence is even more scant with long-established panel studies from low and middle-income countries. Methods In this paper, we used three waves (years 2002, 2005, and 2009) of a nationally representative panel study to examine the psychometric properties of the modified Calderon Depression Scale (CAL-DM)—a one-item exclusion of a depression scale designed for a population residing in a middle-income country (i.e., Mexico). Our analytical sample included 16,868 participants: 7,696 men and 9,172 women. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), we first examined overall fit in each wave, and then we tested time, gender, and time-gender measurement invariance across three waves. We also estimated and compared depression score means by gender and time. Finally, we examine...

Alteridades, 2021

The covid-19 pandemic has transformed people's lives globally but has particularities specific to... more The covid-19 pandemic has transformed people's lives globally but has particularities specific to each context. This article analyzes some of its effects in five Afro-Mexican municipalities on the coast of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Using official health data and interviews conducted by local researchers, we developed a collaborative study about the situation of infections in the region, the service networks available for their care, and the perception of risk by the population. The results show the uncertainty regarding the virus and-even though the prevalence of infections is apparently low-the pandemic has exposed the precarious socioeconomic and health infrastructure conditions and the structural vulnerabilities in a region with high rates of marginalization. It is an exploratory study that analyzes the first months of the pandemic but contributes to its understanding in rural contexts and among the Afro-Mexican population.

This paper examines the effect of social programs, socio -economic origin, family structure, and ... more This paper examines the effect of social programs, socio -economic origin, family structure, and individual characteristics on school continuation dec isions (i.e., transition from elementary to secondary school, and from secondary to high school) in Mexico. Specifically, we ask (a) what are the effects of Prospera (before Oportunidades), parent and grandparent’s education, family structure (i.e. both parents present, father absent due to domestic or international migration, father died, mother absent, both parents absent), gender and indigenous b ackground in transitioning from primary to secondary school, and from secondary to high sch ool?, and (b) are these effects different across transitions? We take advantage of longitudinal data from three waves of the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS) and use the neo-classical education transitions model proposed by Lucas (2011) to analyze educational transitions of Mexican cohorts born between 1993 and 1995. Preliminary findings indicate ...

Journal of Marriage and Family, 2021

Journal of Marriage and Family, 2018

Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2017

Abstract Improvements in life expectancy have increased interactions between grandchildren and gr... more Abstract Improvements in life expectancy have increased interactions between grandchildren and grandparents. This paper examines how grandparent’s co-residence shapes grandchildren’s educational progression by grandchildren’s family structure. Based on a life course perspective approach, I use three waves of novel panel data from the Mexican Family Life Survey, and ask whether grandparent’s co-residence influence grandchildren’s educational transitions, depending upon grandchildren’s family structure, and whether grandparents’ education influence grandchildren’s educational transitions. This study suggests that grandparents’ co-residence does not have a linear effect on the process of educational attainment, given that its effect maybe positive, negative, of null depending on family structure and the specific roles grandparents assume. It also shows that in countries like Mexico, where the education of older cohorts is fairly low, grandparent’s education is not associated with grandchildren’s school progression.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2018

El Trimestre Económico, 2015

Este artículo examina el impacto del Seguro Popular (SP) en la utilización de servicios de salud,... more Este artículo examina el impacto del Seguro Popular (SP) en la utilización de servicios de salud, en el gasto de los hogares en salud y en el mercado laboral. El análisis se realiza por género y origen de la población (urbano y rural) utilizando datos longitudinales de la Encuesta Nacional sobre Niveles de Vida de los Hogares (ENNViH), y el método de emparejamiento de marcadores de propensión. En general, se observa que el SP no ha tenido un impacto en el número de hospitalizaciones y consultas externas, con excepción de las mujeres de origen urbano. El análisis por institución muestra que el SP ha provocado un incremento en la consulta ofrecida en establecimientos de la Secretaría de Salud (SSA) en poblaciones urbanas. Adicionalmente, se observa que el SP ha tenido un impacto negativo en la cobertura del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) y en el empleo formal de las mujeres de origen urbano, y de los hombres de origen rural. En el ámbito del hogar, no se encuentra ningún ...

Ageing and Society, 2016

Policy makers are concerned about the socio-economic consequences of population ageing. Policies ... more Policy makers are concerned about the socio-economic consequences of population ageing. Policies often rely on estimations of support ratios based solely on the population age structure. We estimate Generational Support Ratios (GSRs) considering health heterogeneity of the population age 60+ and education heterogeneity of their offspring. We explore the effect of a public policy that changes the education of a targeted sub-group of women when they are young on their health once they become older, taking into account changes in demographic processes (i.e. marriage, fertility, offspring's education). We used the model presented by Kye et al. for the Korean context and examine the Mexican context. Our paper has three objectives. First, by applying this framework to the Mexican context we aim to find that improvements in women's education may mitigate the negative consequences of population ageing directly and indirectly through subsequent demographic behaviours that altogether ...

Demographic Research, 2014

En el último lustro la EHE se ha mantenido como la primera causa de muerte materna en México. Dur... more En el último lustro la EHE se ha mantenido como la primera causa de muerte materna en México. Durante el 2010 murieron 248 mujeres por esta causa, representando el 25 por ciento del total. El 93.6 por ciento de los trastornos hipertensivos que llevaron a la muerte a estas mujeres se originaron durante el embarazo y en el resto de los casos existía un problema hipertensivo preexistente. Según lo asentado en las bases oficiales de mortalidad, la hipertensión gestacional (inducida por el embarazo) con proteinuria ...

Demography, 2015

We use data from three rounds of the Mexican Family Life Survey to examine whether migrants in th... more We use data from three rounds of the Mexican Family Life Survey to examine whether migrants in the United States returning to Mexico in the period 2005–2012 have worse health than those remaining in the United States. Despite extensive interest by demographers in health-related selection, this has been a neglected area of study in the literature on U.S.-Mexico migration, and the few results to date have been contradictory and inconclusive. Using five self-reported health variables collected while migrants resided in the United States and subsequent migration history, we find direct evidence of higher probabilities of return migration for Mexican migrants in poor health as well as lower probabilities of return for migrants with improving health. These findings are robust to the inclusion of potential confounders reflecting the migrants’ demographic characteristics, economic situation, family ties, and origin and destination characteristics. We anticipate that in the coming decade, he...

Research on assortative mating over the past three decades shows a tendency of individuals to mar... more Research on assortative mating over the past three decades shows a tendency of individuals to marry others with similar characteristics. Positive marital sorting increases income inequality and is positively correlated with wage inequality. Even though marriage choice has important implications for inequality and its persistence, little is known about how marital sorting patterns arise. The positive correlation between spouses' characteristics reflects two forces in the marriage market: demand and supply. Investigating mating preferences in the process of union formation is central to understand marriage market dynamics leading to social inequality. This dissertation project focuses on the process of partner choice. In my first chapter, I investigate educational homogamy by union type (i.e. cohabitation and marriage) in one Latin American country: Mexico. I test two hypotheses that explain xvii I wish to thank Rodrigo Elizarrarás, Madinina Mauvois, Juan Carlos Carrillo, and Javier España whose friendship continues to show no bounds. Lastly, I am grateful to my dear husband Christian Herrera whose love, affection and daily support was crucial throughout this process, and to my son Matias Herrera whose presence, light, and smiles were and continue to be an infinitely source of motivation and encouragement.