Risk and Resilience in Rural Communities: The Experiences of Immigrant Latina Mothers

• Published in: Family relations Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 559 - 570
• Main Authors: Raffaelli, Marcela, Tran, Steve P., Wiley, Angela R., Galarza-Heras, Maria, Lazarevic, Vanja
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2012; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley-Blackwell; National Council on Family Relations
• Subjects: Age; Capital assets; Case studies; Child care; Children; Communities; Community; Community Relations; Correlation; Discourse; Economics; Ethnic groups; Family; Family (Sociological Unit); Family Relationship; Focus Groups; Food; Food security; Foreign Countries; Hispanic Americans; HISPANIC/LATINO FAMILIES; Hispanics; Human Capital; Immigrants; Income; Interviews; Latin American Cultural Groups; Latinos; Life Satisfaction; Literature Reviews; Manufacturing Industry; Measures (Individuals); Mexican Americans; Mexico; Migrant communities; Mother Attitudes; Mothers; Noncitizens; Population; Predisposing factors; protective factors; Quality of life; resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Risk; Risk exposure; Risk factors; rural; Rural Areas; Rural Communities; Security (Psychology); Social Capital; Studies; Transportation; U.S.A; Urban Areas; Well Being; Wellbeing; United States > US; USA; Latin America
• ISSN: 0197-6664; 1741-3729; 0197-6664
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00717.x

Immigrants from Latin America are increasingly settling in rural U.S. communities that welcome them as workers but are often unprepared to address their needs and promote their well-being. Building on recent descriptive studies, we examined factors associated with individual and family well-being in a sample of 112 immigrant Latina mothers (mean age 34.5 years, 93% Mexican) who completed in-person interviews. Mothers who reported a more negative community climate reported lower levels of individual and family well-being (life satisfaction, financial well-being, and food security). Composite measures of economic and social capital were positively related to family well-being; unexpectedly, mothers with higher levels of human capital reported lower levels of life satisfaction. Discussion focuses on implications of results for future research, theory-building, and practice.