Brazilian immigrant mothers’ social networks: implications for mental health and wellbeing
Embargo Date
2027-05-31
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brazilian immigrant mothers are incredibly resourceful managing multiple demands in an unfamiliar environment and without their traditional sources of social and cultural support. They experience both personal and environmental stressors such as hazardous work environments, low English proficiency and stigma associated with documentation status as well as the challenges of navigating new cultural norms and societal values. Social support has been determined to buffer stress and mediate access to resources and opportunities, consequently, influencing parenting as well as mental health. The aim of this study is to explore Brazilian immigrant mothers’ personal networks and the relationship between networks and mothers’ parental support, parental practices, and emotional health.
METHODS: Foreign-born Brazilian immigrant mothers with children between the ages of 0 and 5 years old who lived with them in the US (n=18) were identified using purposive and snowball sampling strategies. Recruitment involved Facebook posts, outreach to community leaders and other gatekeepers via email, WhatsApp, and text, as well as flyers at the Brazilian Worker Center and the Brazilian Consulate. Social network interviews were conducted in Brazilian Portuguese. Each participant took part in a telephone interview followed by a Zoom interview. In the first meeting, demographic and social network data was collected using a software called Egonet. During the phone interview, participants were asked to list 30 people in their network (alters), basic questions about each alter, and to indicate any connections between alters. EgoNet built a network visualization based on these questions. These visualizations were the basis for interviews during a second meeting. Network properties and demographic data were downloaded from EgoNet. The data was compiled using MS Excel to generate descriptive analysis. Thematic analysis methods were used to code, sort, refine and identify the major themes and stories in the qualitative data. Network properties, descriptive data were used in combination with network maps to highlight and illustrate themes and concepts from the data.
RESULTS: Brazilian immigrants (n=15) completed two interviews, a network, and a qualitative interview. Most participants described feelings of nervousness/stress regarding parenting and daily household chores, followed by work and career and health. Networks were highly transnational and mostly homogenous with, people of Brazilian nationality representing most network actors. Homophily, a tendency for people to be drawn towards others who are like them, was a finding independent of years of migration. Spouses occupied a central position in 16 of the 18 networks followed by the participants’ mothers and family or kin-like friends. Participants described local network actors as instrumental in buffering stress. Participants with dense networks, who reported feeling very supported or supported by their network were more likely to express positive appraisal of their network’s perceived availability in tangible ways.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Brazilian immigrant mothers are an understudied population; this study reveals the complexity of their social networks illustrating the spatial distribution of primary sources of support. Network analysis provides important insight that can inform social work practice. Social work practitioners should leverage the centrality of partners and important non-local alters (e.g., immigrant women’s mothers) to offer transnational wraparound services to support family and community strengths. Interventions and policies at the community level, should promote community building and networking to develop mutual support networks. Policies to improve the lives of immigrant and low-income working mothers such as universal-free childcare and pre-school could offer a path to the job market, which may further buffer stress and improve mental health. Finally, justice and sustainable long-term positive health outcomes for Brazilian immigrant mothers will only be possible with comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship for those without legal authorization.