Physical and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic among college students who are undocumented or have undocumented parents

Annie Ro,Laura E Enriquez,Victoria E Rodriguez

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11606-x

Abstract

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected the mental and physical health of undocumented students and students with undocumented parents.MethodsWe analyzed primary data from 2111 California college students collected March–June 2020. We estimated the odds of mental or physical health being affected “a great deal” by COVID by immigration group and then examined whether this was moderated by campus belonging or resource use.ResultsStudents with undocumented parents were least likely to report COVID-related mental and physical health effects. Undocumented students and students whose parents have lawful immigration status did not differ in their COVID-related physical and mental health. For all students, more campus resource use and higher campus belonging were associated with negative mental and physical health effects.DiscussionNegative COVID-related mental and physical health was widespread. Separation from campus-based resources was detrimental during the early stages of the pandemic.

Highlights

The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID)-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected the mental and physical health of undocumented students and students with undocumented parents
We focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the physical and mental well-being of college students with differing immigration-related vulnerabilities
The majority of participants reported that their mental health and physical health were negatively affected by COVID19

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected the mental and physical health of undocumented students and students with undocumented parents. The COVID pandemic has completely reshaped higher education, with campus shut downs, shifts to remote learning, and curtailed campus life. These drastic and abrupt changes have created challenges that can threaten the mental health and well-being of college students [1]. There are no estimates of the number of U.S citizen college students with undocumented parents, but this is likely a significant and growing student population. Estimates from 2013 suggest that 4.5 million U.S citizen children have at least one undocumented parent [8]; this is the case for nearly one in eight K–12 school children in California [9]

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