Mothers and Daughters

Both female American immigrants and refugees, defined in this paper as emigrants, as well as their second-generation female children face recognizable and distinct mental health problems. They are both impacted at higher rates as compared to their male, native-born peers, given the intersectionality—the overlapping and interdependent impacts—of their gender and status. Even more, oftentimes impacts on their well-being are caused by their relationships and interactions with each other, as mothers and daughters. Some factors that can negatively influence the mental health of female American emigrant mothers include acculturative stress, protectiveness over children, cultural distance from their kids, and postpartum Depression. Meanwhile, some of the contributing stressors for second-generation daughters include having familial responsibilities, experiencing cultural dissonance from their parents, and internalized guilt and shame. Finally, second-generation youth also face several barriers when trying to access mental health care services. Along with all of the aforementioned components, both groups’ gender contributes to their decreased well-being. As a result, this research emphasizes the importance of specifically analyzing marginalized individuals when considering mental health, and analyzing familial relationships that may affect it.