Citation

Mancenido A, Williams EC, Hajat A. Community Ment. Health J. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-020-00584-w

PMID

32076903

Abstract

While many studies have documented the health outcomes of immigrants, little is known about the direct and intersectional influences of generational status on mental health. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the California Health Interview Survey from 2015 to 2016 (N = 41,754) to compare the prevalence of psychological distress among first-generation immigrants and non-immigrants relative to second-generation immigrants, overall and across intersections of race, poverty status, and gender. Second-generation and non-immigrant respondents had a significantly higher prevalence (10.1% and 9.4%, respectively) of psychological distress compared to first-generation immigrants (5.9%). Prevalence ratios comparing first-generation to second-generation immigrants were suggestive of an association where first-generation immigrants had lower prevalence of psychological distress compared to second-generation, though not statistically significant (0.81, 95% Confidence interval 0.63, 1.04). Prevalence ratios of non-immigrants relative to second-generation immigrants were not statistically significant (1.12, 95% Confidence interval 0.84, 1.50).

Language: en

Keywords

Immigrant generation; Intersectionality; Mental health; Psychological distress