Journal article
Depressive symptoms among rural Latina immigrant mothers before and during COVID-19
Journal of rural mental health, Vol.49(4), pp.376-386
10/2025
DOI: 10.1037/rmh0000317
Abstract
Experiencing multiple stressors over time can have lasting impacts on mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, loss of income, concerns about virus infection, and access to and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine led to additional stress, especially among those who were essential workers and immigrants and who had low incomes. In this study, we investigated depressive symptom trajectories of 110 Latina immigrant mothers who resided in rural meat-packing communities in a Midwestern state from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Latent growth mixture modeling was conducted to investigate patterns of depressive symptoms among the mothers. Class differences in mothers’ characteristics were examined through group comparison and thematic analysis. Three classes of depressive symptoms trajectories were identified: resilient (71.8%), worsening (24.5%), and chronically high (3.6%). Thematic analysis of mothers’ responses to open-ended questions was conducted to identify themes (fear of lost income, persevering through faith and time with family, and vaccine confidence) that depicted similarities and diversity in mothers’ experiences and perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic and complemented the quantitative findings. Findings revealed diversity in depressive symptoms trajectories among the mothers and suggested that the mental health needs of Latina immigrant mothers in rural areas vary. Expanding this study to include rural Latina immigrant mothers across multiple states can increase the generalizability of future findings and strengthen implications for practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Depressive symptoms among rural Latina immigrant mothers before and during COVID-19
- Creators
- Dahee KimKimberly GrederNa-Omi Hassane Dan KaramiJuan Bao
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of rural mental health, Vol.49(4), pp.376-386
- DOI
- 10.1037/rmh0000317
- ISSN
- 1935-942X
- eISSN
- 2163-8969
- Publisher
- National Association for Rural Mental Health
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 08/25/2025
- Date published
- 10/2025
- Academic Unit
- Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy
- Record Identifier
- 9984949518602771
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