Covariates of Identified Stress and Depression among Seasonal Farmworkers.

Beth Chaney,Essie Torres

doi:10.3390/ijerph14070711

Abstract

Many noted difficulties of farmworker life result in increased risk for stress and depression. To date, limited research has focused primarily on seasonal farmworkers; much of the prior research examines migrant farmworkers or both groups collectively. This study aims to: (1) describe levels of stress and depression among a sample of seasonal farmworkers; and (2) identify if covariates (age, gender, marital status, education level, years of residency, problems obtaining healthcare due to documentation, language barriers, transportation, costs, medical insurance, and stress level) are significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Survey data were collected from 150 Latino seasonal farmworkers. A hierarchical binary logistic regression was conducted to identify significant covariates. The results indicated that the only statistically significant covariates were health insurance coverage (p = 0.025) and stress (p = 0.008). Those farmworkers without health insurance were 1.8 times more likely than those with health insurance to possess depressive symptoms, while those demonstrating higher stress levels were over 7 times more likely to demonstrate symptoms of depression. The implications of the results are discussed in the manuscript.

Highlights

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers provide much of the hand labor necessary to support the multibillion dollar agricultural industry within the United States (US) [1,2]
Data were collected from a sample of 150 Latino seasonal farmworkers
The results indicated that only health insurance access (χ2 = 5.90, df = 2, p = 0.05) and lack of documentation (χ2 = 9.15, df = 2, p = 0.01) resulted in statistically significant differences between participants identified as having high stress levels versus those with lower stress levels

Summary

Introduction

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers provide much of the hand labor necessary to support the multibillion dollar agricultural industry within the United States (US) [1,2]. 2–4 million migrant and seasonal farmworkers are employed on ranches and farms in the US [3], and a majority of these workers are male, Spanish-speaking, and Latino [4,5]. In North Carolina, agriculture ranks among the state’s most vital industries, producing over US $2.2 billion, and at the heart of this industry are the state’s migrant and seasonal farmworkers [6]. The non-agricultural nature of the part-time employment of seasonal farmworkers excludes them from being considered “migrant” workers by the federal definition, and oftentimes results in their ineligibility for federal benefits provided, such as migrant health services [8]

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Discussion

Conclusion