Toward a Typology of Transnational Communication among Venezuelan Immigrant Youth: Implications for Behavioral Health
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Toward a Typology of Transnational Communication among Venezuelan Immigrant Youth: Implications for Behavioral Health Christopher P. Salas‑Wright1,10 · Michael G. Vaughn3,4 · Trenette Clark Goings5 · Cory L. Cobb6 · Mariana Cohen1 · Pablo Montero‑Zamora2 · Rob Eschmann1 · Rachel John1 · Patricia Andrade7 · Kesia Oliveros7 · José Rodríguez8 · Milded M. Maldonado‑Molina9 · Seth J. Schwartz2,6 Accepted: 1 October 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
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. Keywords Immigrants · Communication · Venezuela · Smartphones · Depression * Christopher P. Salas‑Wright Christopher.Salas‑[email protected]
Introduction
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In recent years, we have witnessed a massive outmigration of more than 4 million Venezuelans as a result of the nation’s acute economic, social, and political challenges [1]. Critically, UNICEF [2] has noted that children and adolescents constitute a central part Venezuela’s migration crisis, with more than 1 million migrant youth in need of protection and access to basic services. Although the bulk of Venezuelan migrants have relocated to Colombia and other Latin American countries, several hundred thousand have sought refuge in the United States (US) [3, 4]. One unique characteristic of the Venezuelan diaspora is that it is occurring in an era of unprecedented transnational connectedness facilitated by multi-purpose mobile phones. The Pew Research Center [5] estimates that virtually all US residents (96%) own a mobile phone that provides easy access to worldwide communication applications like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Recent data also suggest that, despite the severity of Venezuela’s economic crisis, most Venezuelans (85%) have easy access to a mobile phone
School of Social Work, Boston University, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Prevention Science & Community Health, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
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School
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