Examining psychological distress across intersections of immigrant generational status, race, poverty, and gender

Abstract

Introduction: 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. Methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the California Health Interview Survey from 2015-2016 (N=41,754) to examine the prevalence of psychological distress (self-reported experience in the past 12 months) across generational status. We used log-binomial regression models adjusted for demographic and health-related factors to compare the likelihood 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. Results: 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%). Generational status was not statistically significantly associated with psychological stress; estimates for first-generation and non-immigrants relative to second-generation immigrants were 0.81 (95% CI 0.63-0.04) and 1.12 (95% CI 0.84-1.50), respectively. Discussion: Though no statistically significant association was shown between generational status and psychological distress, the direction of estimates across iteratively adjusted models suggests a protective effect for first-generation immigrants. Further research is needed in bigger samples to explore associations between generational status and psychological distress, overall and across intersections of the population.