Suicide Risk Factors Among Mexican Migrant Farmworker Women in the Midwest United States
Author: Hovey, Joseph D.
Date Published: 2003
No previous studies have assessed suicide risk among migrant farmworkers in the United States. The purposes of the present study were threefold: (1) to assess the prevalence levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in a sample of first-generation Mexican migrant farmworker women in the Midwest United States; (2) to examine the variables that predict depression and suicidal ideation; and (3) to qualitatively--through interviews--determine the stressors experienced by migrant farmworker women. The overall sample reported elevated levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Family dysfunction, ineffective social support, hopelessness, and high acculturative stress were related to high depression. Migrant farmworker women who experienced suicidal ideation reported lower self-esteem, greater family dysfunction, less effective social support, greater hopelessness, higher acculturative stress, and more depression than migrant farmworker women with no suicidal ideation. In determining whether these factors could predict suicidal ideation, a logistic regression analysis accurately classified 100% of the cases. Finally, a content analysis revealed that the migrant farmworker women experienced 21 distinct stressors associated with their lifestyle. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed
Date Published: 2003
No previous studies have assessed suicide risk among migrant farmworkers in the United States. The purposes of the present study were threefold: (1) to assess the prevalence levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation in a sample of first-generation Mexican migrant farmworker women in the Midwest United States; (2) to examine the variables that predict depression and suicidal ideation; and (3) to qualitatively--through interviews--determine the stressors experienced by migrant farmworker women. The overall sample reported elevated levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Family dysfunction, ineffective social support, hopelessness, and high acculturative stress were related to high depression. Migrant farmworker women who experienced suicidal ideation reported lower self-esteem, greater family dysfunction, less effective social support, greater hopelessness, higher acculturative stress, and more depression than migrant farmworker women with no suicidal ideation. In determining whether these factors could predict suicidal ideation, a logistic regression analysis accurately classified 100% of the cases. Finally, a content analysis revealed that the migrant farmworker women experienced 21 distinct stressors associated with their lifestyle. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed
