Deportation Effects on Children: Rural Latina Single-Parent Families with Children in Lower Grade School Who Suffer from An Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety

Single-parent families, especially those headed by Latina mothers, face stressors that harm both parents and their children. This is especially true for those who have been negatively affected by deportation. Deportation is a frequently overlooked cause for single-parent households. Roughly 5.7 million children live with parents who do not obtain legal residency documentation, and approximately 500,000 children had at least one parent detained or deported within the last 2 years (Rayburn et al., 2021). Due to the deportation of parents, some of these children develop anxiety-related adjustment disorders. Research into effective methods for aiding these families is limited. However, experiential family therapy (Gehart, 2024) has proved effective for a variety of family populations, such as Latinx families and those who have developed adjustment disorders. To better assist this family population, social workers should be knowledgeable of these strategies.