Stress and cognitive function in Latino Farmworkers (original) (raw)
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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2009
Background Few research instruments used in occupational stress research have been evaluated for acceptability and validity among immigrant Latino farmworkers. Methods Cognitive testing was completed with 40 migrant and seasonal farmworkers (21 women, 19 men) through two focus groups and 16 one-on-one interviews conducted in Texas and Florida. Participants responded to the K-6, a short form instrument designed to measure psychological distress, selected items from the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and standard health items. Results The K-6 items were characterized as too long and using a higher ''class'' language than farmworkers use. Further, the cultural connotation of several items in the K-6 was viewed as inappropriate by farmworkers. Demand items from the JCQ were interpreted inconsistently, whereas decision latitude items were consistently understood but viewed as irrelevant to farmworkers. Conclusions The results highlight the difficulties involved in conducting research with immigrant farmworkers, and they suggest that researchers interested in studying antecedents and consequences of farmworker mental health need to select instruments cautiously.
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2009
Background Few research instruments used in occupational stress research have been evaluated for acceptability and validity among immigrant Latino farmworkers. Methods Cognitive testing was completed with 40 migrant and seasonal farmworkers (21 women, 19 men) through two focus groups and 16 one-on-one interviews conducted in Texas and Florida. Participants responded to the K-6, a short form instrument designed to measure psychological distress, selected items from the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and standard health items. Results The K-6 items were characterized as too long and using a higher ''class'' language than farmworkers use. Further, the cultural connotation of several items in the K-6 was viewed as inappropriate by farmworkers. Demand items from the JCQ were interpreted inconsistently, whereas decision latitude items were consistently understood but viewed as irrelevant to farmworkers. Conclusions The results highlight the difficulties involved in conducting research with immigrant farmworkers, and they suggest that researchers interested in studying antecedents and consequences of farmworker mental health need to select instruments cautiously.
Migrant Farmworker Stress: Mental Health Implications
The Journal of Rural Health, 2008
Context: The number of Latinos in rural regions of the United States is increasing. Little is known about factors that undermine the mental health of this segment of the rural population. Purpose: The goal of this study is to determine which stressors inherent in farmwork and the farmworker lifestyle contribute to poor mental health. Methods: An interview containing the Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory (MFWSI) and 3 mental health scales (the PAI [anxiety], CES-D [depression], and CAGE/4M [alcohol abuse]) was administered to a sample of 125 male migrant farmworkers. Factor analysis differentiated discrete domains of stressors in the MFWSI. Regression models identified associations of the MFWSI stressor domains with mental health outcomes. Findings: Thirty-eight percent of participants had significant levels of stress as determined by the MFWSI. The MFWSI reduced to 5 stressor domains: legality and logistics, social isolation, work conditions, family, and substance abuse by others. Some 18.4% of participants had impairing levels of anxiety, 41.6% met caseness for depression, and 37.6% answered yes to 2 or more questions on the CAGE. Social isolation and working conditions were associated with both anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, social isolation was more strongly associated with anxiety, and working conditions were more strongly linked to depression. Conclusions: Specific categories of stressors (social isolation, working conditions) inherent in farmwork and the farmworker lifestyle are associated with mental health among immigrant farmworkers. Isolating specific categories of stressors helps in designing programs and practice for the prevention and management of mental health disorders in the immigrant, farmworker population.
Stress and Sociocultural Factors Related to Health Status Among US–Mexico Border Farmworkers
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2013
This study examines factors relating to farmworkers' health status from sociocultural factors, including stress embedded within their work and community contexts. A cross-sectional household survey of farmworkers (N = 299) included social-demographics, immigration status descriptors, and a social-ecologically grounded, community-responsive, stress assessment. Outcomes included three standard US national surveillance measures of poor mental, physical, and self-rated health (SRH). Logistic regression models showed that higher levels of stress were significantly associated (Ps \ .001) with increased risk for poor mental health and poor physical health considering all variables. Stress was not associated with SRH. Regarding two of the three outcomes, mental health and physical health, stress added explanatory power as expected. For poor SRH, a known marker for mortality risk and quite high in the sample at 38 %, only age was significantly associated. Clinical and systems-level health promotion strategies may be required to mitigate these stressors in border-residing farmworkers.
Correlates of Mental Health Among Latino Farmworkers in North Carolina
The Journal of Rural Health, 2012
Purpose: Latino farmworkers are a vulnerable population who confront multiple threats to their mental health. Informed by the stress-process model of psychiatric disorder, the goal of this paper is to determine primary and contextspecific stressors of poor mental health among Latino farmworkers. Methods: Structured interview data were obtained from farmworkers (N = 69) in 6 counties in eastern and western North Carolina. Findings: Results indicated that a substantial number of farmworkers have poor mental health, as indicated by elevated depressive symptoms (52.2%) and anxiety (16.4%). Results also indicated that each mental health outcome had different predictors. Conclusion: Addressing the mental health issues of farmworkers requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach.
Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 2008
This study tests basic predictions from the demands-control model of occupational stress in Latino immigrant farmworkers. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 151Ăfarmworkers in eastern North Carolina via face-to-face interviews conducted in Spanish during the summer of 2005. Results suggest that farmwork is characterized by low psychological demand and low control, or that it is a "passive job." Multivariate analyses provided little support for predictions. Isometric load, an indicator of physical job demands reflecting how frequently workers maintain awkward postures for long periods, was associated with poorer physical health, and high worker control was associated with better mental health. However, pace of work, an indicator of psychological job demand, was unassociated with physical and mental health, and physical exertion, another indicator of physical job demand, was not robustly associated with health outcomes. The results suggest that core predictions from the demands-control model do not hold for immigrant farmworkers, and they foreshadow possible ways of refining the model.
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2010
Immigrant Latino farmworkers confront multiple challenges that threaten their mental health. Previous farmworker mental health research has relied primarily on cross-sectional study designs, leaving little opportunity to describe how farmworker mental health changes or to identify factors that may contribute to these changes. This study used prospective data obtained at monthly intervals across one four-month agricultural season from a large sample of Latino farmworkers in NC (N=288) to document variation in depressive symptoms across the agricultural season and delineate structural and situational factors associated with mental health trajectories across time. Depressive symptoms generally followed a U-shaped distribution across the season, but there was substantial variation in this pattern. Structural stressors like marital status and situational stressors like the pace of work, crowded living conditions, and concerns about documentation predicted depressive symptoms. The pattern of results suggests that strategies to address mental health problems in this vulnerable population will require coordinated action at the individual and social level.
Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 2020
Highlights Keywords: Farmers, Health and safety, Needs assessment, Stressors, Survey incentives.Chemicals, equipment/tools, and health outcomes were the greatest perceived health and safety concerns among surveyed agricultural workers. Keywords: Farmers, Health and safety, Needs assessment, Stressors, Survey incentives.Finances, climate/weather, and farm workload and management were the greatest perceived psychological stressors among surveyed agricultural workers. Keywords: Farmers, Health and safety, Needs assessment, Stressors, Survey incentives.Among mail survey respondents, response rates for prepaid monetary incentives were double that of promised monetary incentives. Keywords: Farmers, Health and safety, Needs assessment, Stressors, Survey incentives.There was considerable overlap in the pattern of survey responses across mail and in-person respondents. Keywords: Farmers, Health and safety, Needs assessment, Stressors, Survey incentives.In-person data collection facilitated a...
Mental Health Research with Latino Farmworkers: A Systematic Evaluation of the Short CES-D
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2010
Mental health research among Latino farmworkers is hampered by the absence of measurement evaluation that ensures farmworkers understand and can consistently and appropriately respond to questions about mental health. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 409 farmworkers via interviewer-administered survey questionnaires. Mental health was operationalized with the short-form Center for Epidemiologic Studies, Depression (CES-D) scale. The structured interviewer-administered survey questionnaires included measures to capture personal and work-related factors that could affect farmworkers' ability to understand and respond to mental health questions probed by the CES-D. Good variability in item response was observed across the 10 short-form CES-D items. There was no evidence of differential response across sub-groups of farmworkers for six of the 10 items. Responses to four of the 10 items differed by educational attainment, country of origin, and language preference. Overall, the internal consistency of the 10 items exceeded standard conventions, and observed differences in depressive symptoms were as expected. Researchers in farmworker mental health must remain attentive to the strength and validity of available measures for migrants, different ethnic groups and different socioeconomic backgrounds. Nevertheless, the overall pattern suggests that the CES-D is a viable tool for advancing farmworker mental health research.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Hispanic/Latino and migrant workers experience high degrees of occupational stress, constitute most of California’s agricultural workforce, and were among the most impacted populations by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, relatively little is known about the occupational stress experienced by farmworkers who commute daily between the US and Mexico. Occupational stress is considered an imbalance between the demands at work and the capabilities to respond in the context of the workforce. The goal of this study is to determine the type and severity of stressors in daytime and resident farmworkers and how COVID-19 vaccination status contributes to these stressors. Interviews containing the Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory (MSWSI) were administered to a sample of 199 Hispanic/Latino farmworkers in Imperial County, a multi-billion-dollar agriculture sector in the US. Principal factor analysis differentiated latent factors in the MFSWI. Simple linear regression models and correlations ide...