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Background and Purpose: The Hispanic Paradox has been long been observed in medicine and health epidemiology. Despite commonly having few resources, often low incomes, and facing many barriers, Hispanic populations often have health outcomes surpassing those of Whites. More recently, the Hispanic Paradox has also been found to be a protective factor with regard to child maltreatment. In the health literature, it has been found that the protective advantages associated with the Hispanic Paradox may diminish across generations, being strongest in foreign born persons. The purpose of this study is determine if if the protective effects of the Hispanic Paradox are diminished generationally. We do this by checking to see if counties with more foreign-born Hispanics have lower rates of child maltreatment reporting than counties with more native-born Hispanics.
Methods: Census data, including the percentage of Hispanics in a county who were foreign-born, was used to predict child maltreatment rates as observed in the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. The analysis was done at a county level and included several covariates (e.g. Hispanic Median Income, Rural/Urban status).
Results: A linear mixed effects model showed that for each point of increase in the percentage of the Hispanic foreign-born population of a county, the county child maltreatment rate dropped by .78 reports per 1000 Hispanic children. Variation in Hispanic national origin (e.g. Mexico) was not found to moderate this relationship. The magnitude of this effect is large. For example, in a metropolitan county with over 10,000 people, and median family income of $52,000 per year, where 10% of the Hispanic population is foreign born, the expected child maltreatment report rate is 70 per 1000 Hispanic kids per year. However, if that same county had 50% of their Hispanic born outside the USA, the expected CMR rate drops to 39 CMRs per 1000 Hispanic kids, a reduction of almost half.
Conclusion and Implications: Counties with higher percentages of foreign-born Hispanics have lower child maltreatment rates after controlling for other factors. This is consistent with emerging findings in child mortality data and suggests that for child maltreatment, the Hispanic Paradox may fade generationally. Future research should endeavor to build a clearer understanding of the paradox and explore ways to preserve it generationally. By 2065, it is estimated that there will be 78 million foreign-born Americans, up from 46 million today. One in four people in the US will be Hispanic. The health and wellbeing of such a large and vibrant part of our population should be an overriding national concern. Developing a better understanding of the Hispanic Paradox, as it relates both to health and to child wellbeing, may result in new tools to maintain this advantage into the future.