Exposures to Traumatic Life Events and Chronic Strains: Health and Mortality among Elder Mexican-Origin Individuals

Marc A. Garcia, University of Texas at Austin

The United States Latino population has experienced unprecedented growth in the past several decades. Despite the population growth there has been relatively little research that explores how exposure to negative life events and chronic strains affects the health and mortality outcomes of Latinos. This research examines the extent to which traumatic life events and chronic strains affect the health and mortality outcomes of foreign-born and native-born Mexican-origin individuals (age 45 and older) residing along the U.S./Mexico border. Results from the multivariate analysis show that there is no direct association between traumatic life events, self-reported health and mortality. However, chronic strains were found to negatively impact the well-being of both foreign-born and native-born groups. There was no association between chronic strains and mortality. Finally, the hypothesis suggesting that foreign-born respondents would fare better in terms of health compared to their native-born counterparts is not supported.