Abstract
We identify subtypes of Venezuelan youth based on patterns of technology-based communication with friends in their receiving (US) and sending (Venezuela) countries and, in turn, examine the behavioral health characteristics among different “subtypes” of youth. Using data from 402 recently-arrived Venezuelan immigrant youth (ages 10–17), latent profile analysis and multinomial regression are employed to examine the relationships between technology-based communication and key outcomes. We identified a four-class solution: [#1] “Daily Contact in US, In Touch with Venezuela” (32%), [#2] “Daily Communication in Both Countries” (19%), [#3] “Weekly Contact: More Voice/Text Than Social Media” (35%), and [#4] “Infrequent Communication with US and Venezuela” (14%). Compared to Class #1, youth in Classes #2 and #3 report elevated depressive symptomatology and more permissive substance use views. Findings suggest that how youth navigate and maintain transnational connections varies substantially, and that technology-based communication is related to key post-migration outcomes.
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Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers DA030310 and AA026645. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Salas-Wright, C.P., Vaughn, M.G., Goings, T.C. et al. Toward a Typology of Transnational Communication among Venezuelan Immigrant Youth: Implications for Behavioral Health. J Immigrant Minority Health 23, 1045–1052 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01099-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01099-y