Duration of US stay and body mass index among Latino and Asian immigrants: A test of theoretical pathways
Duration of US stay and body mass index among Latino and Asian immigrants: A test of theoretical pathways
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.09.001
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发表时间：
2015-11-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Bostean, Georgiana
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ro, Annie;Bostean, Georgiana
研究发现，长期移民的体重指数（BMI）高于新移民。对这些按美国居住时间划分的健康模式的大多数解释都依赖于移民融合理论。他们认为，随着在美国停留时间的增加，移民在经济、社会和文化方面融入了美国社会的各个方面，而这些变化会影响健康。很少有研究实证检验融合的这些方面是否确实是美国居留时间与体重指数之间关系的中介因素，以及它们在不同移民亚群体中的模式是否不同。本研究考察了全国拉丁裔和亚裔美国人调查的数据，使用路径分析方法同时测试了持续时间和体重指数之间的六个假设中介因素：家庭收入、英语语言能力、种族认同、家庭凝聚力、文化压力以及按性别分层的拉丁裔和亚裔移民的歧视。我们几乎没有发现任何证据表明拉丁裔或亚洲男性的持续时间与体重指数之间存在关联。对于女性来说，持续时间和体重指数具有显着且正相关的关系，尽管两个种族群体之间的途径不同。对于拉丁裔女性来说，家庭收入和文化压力是重要的间接途径，尽管它们的作用方向相反。对于亚洲女性来说，英语水平和歧视是重要的间接途径。我们的研究结果揭示了持续时间和体重指数之间因种族和性别而异的复杂路径，并突显了负面文化适应理论的局限性，该理论表明，接触美国应该对健康产生净负面影响。相比之下，我们的研究结果表明，按照体重指数衡量，并非所有群体的健康状况都会随着持续时间的延长而下降，而且整合过程并不总是会转化为预期方向的健康差异。未来对持续时间模式的研究可能需要考虑基于合并的过程之外的其他解释，例如跨国健康理论或年龄、时期、队列效应。 (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. 保留所有权利。
Studies find that longer-term immigrants have higher body mass index (BMI) than their more recently arrived counterparts. Most interpretations of these health patterns by duration of U.S. residence rely on theories of immigrant integration; they posit that with increasing time in the United States, immigrants incorporate economically, socially, and culturally into aspects of U.S. society, and that these changes impact health. Few studies empirically examine whether these aspects of integration are indeed mediators of the association between duration of U.S. stay and BMI, and if their patterns differ across immigrant subgroups. This study examines data from the National Latino and Asian American Survey, using path analytic methods to simultaneously test six hypothesized mediators between duration and BMI: household income, English language ability, ethnic identity, family cohesion, acculturative stress and discrimination for both Latino and Asian immigrants, stratified by gender. We find little evidence for an association between duration and BMI for either Latino or Asian men. For women, duration and BMI have a significant and positive relationship, although the pathways differ between the two ethnic groups. For Latina women, household income and acculturative stress are significant indirect pathways, although they work in opposing directions. For Asian women, English proficiency and discrimination are significant indirect pathways. Our findings reveal complex pathways between duration and BMI that vary by ethnicity and gender and highlight limitations in the negative acculturation theory, which suggests that exposure to the United States should have a net negative impact on health. In contrast, our findings suggest that not all groups show declining health with longer duration, as measured by BMI, and that integration processes do not always translate into health differences in the expected directions. Future research on duration patterns may need to consider alternative explanations beyond incorporation-based processes, such as cross-national health theories or age, period, cohort effects. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.