Documentation status and psychological distress among New York City community college students

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology on Dec 5 2019 (see record 2019-75302-001). In the original article "lower self-esteem" should have read "higher self-esteem" in the first sentence after the Results heading in the abstract. The correct sentence is "Participants with at risk and temporary statuses reported higher fear of deportation for self, fear of family members being deported, psychological distress, and higher self-esteem than those with stable status." All versions of this article have been corrected.] Objective: This research study examined how psychological distress, self-esteem, and academic performance differ across at-risk, temporary, and stable immigration statuses and whether fear of one's own deportation and that of family members is associated with psychological distress.

We surveyed 150 community college students (51% female; M_age = 22.7, SD_age = 2.4) with 3 types of immigration statuses: stable (citizen), temporary (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] and visa), and at-risk of deportation (undocumented). One-way analyses of covariance examined whether fear of deportation, psychological distress, self-esteem, and academic performance varied across immigration statuses. Regression analyses examined the associations among fear of deportation for self and for family members, depression, and isolation and alienation.

Participants with at risk and temporary statuses reported higher fear of deportation for self, fear of family members being deported, psychological distress, and higher self-esteem than those with stable status. Academic performance did not differ across immigration statuses. Within the temporary status, DACA students experienced higher anxiety, isolation, and alienation than other temporary status students. Fear of deportation for self and family members predicted depression and isolation and alienation. Both regression analyses controlled for age, sex, region of origin, hours of work, hours of sleep, and socializing per day.

The study provides new insights into how immigration status influences the psychological well-being of community college students and introduces a quantifiable framework to better understand the construct of fear of deportation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).