Objective
To examine parent concerns about development, learning, and behavior for young children
of Mexican origin, and to identify whether these reports differ by families' citizenship/documentation
status.
Methods
Data come from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, a population-based random-digit
dial telephone survey of California's noninstitutionalized population. California
Health Inerview Survey (CHIS) investigators completed interviews of 43 020 households
with a total of 5856 children under age 6 years, of whom 1786 were reported being
of Mexican origin. Developmental risk was measured by parent concerns elicited by
the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status. We used bivariate and multivariate
analyses to examine associations between developmental risk and family citizenship/documentation
status (parents are undocumented, at least one documented noncitizen parent, or both
parents are US citizens) among children of Mexican origin and US-born non-Latino white
children, after adjusting for age, income, parental education, and predominant household
language.
Results
In multivariate analyses, children of Mexican origin did not differ significantly
from US-born white children in developmental risk (odds ratio 1.12, 95% confidence
interval 0.88–1.42). In subgroup analyses, children of Mexican origin with undocumented
parents had higher odds of developmental risk (odds ratio 1.53, 95% confidence interval
1.00–2.33) than non-Latino white children whose parents were citizens, after adjusting
for confounders.
Conclusions
Mexican children with undocumented parents have greater parent-reported developmental
risk than Mexican and white children whose parents are US citizens or otherwise legally
documented. More research is needed to understand the roles of immigration stress
and home environments on the developmental risks of children in households with undocumented
parents.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 27, 2009
Accepted:
February 20,
2009
Received:
October 17,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
