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Beyond cultural factors to understand immigrant mental health: Neighborhood ethnic density and the moderating role of pre-migration and post-migration factors

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  • Arévalo, Sandra P.
  • Tucker, Katherine L.
  • Falcón, Luis M.

Abstract

Pre-migration and post-migration factors may influence the health of immigrants. Using a cross-national framework that considers the effects of the sending and receiving social contexts, we examined the extent to which pre-migration and post-migration factors, including individual and neighborhood level factors, influence depressive symptoms at a 2-year follow-up time point. Data come from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort of Puerto Ricans between the ages of 45 and 75 y. The association of neighborhood ethnic density with depressive symptomatology at follow-up was significantly modified by sex and level of language acculturation. Men, but not women, experienced protective effects of ethnic density. The interaction of neighborhood ethnic density with language acculturation had a non-linear effect on depressive symptomatology, with lowest depressive symptomatology in the second highest quartile of language acculturation, relative to the lowest and top two quartiles among residents of high ethnic density neighborhoods. Results from this study highlight the complexity, and interplay, of a number of factors that influence the health of immigrants, and emphasize the significance of moving beyond cultural variables to better understand why the health of some immigrant groups deteriorates at faster rates overtime.

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  • Arévalo, Sandra P. & Tucker, Katherine L. & Falcón, Luis M., 2015. "Beyond cultural factors to understand immigrant mental health: Neighborhood ethnic density and the moderating role of pre-migration and post-migration factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 91-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:138:y:2015:i:c:p:91-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.040
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    3. Qian Liu & Haimin Pan, 2020. "Investigation on Life Satisfaction of Rural-to-Urban Migrant Workers in China: A Moderated Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Mariana T. Guzzardo & Wallis E. Adams & Irina L. G. Todorova & Luis M. Falcón, 2017. "Harmonizing Beliefs With Realities: Social Support Among Older Puerto Ricans With Disabilities," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, June.
    5. Boje-Kovacs, Bence & Greve, Jane & Weatherall, Cecilie D., 2024. "Ethnic networks in neighborhoods affect mental health: Evidence from a quasi-random assignment of applicants in the public social housing system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    6. Andrey Vinokurov & Edison J. Trickett & Dina Birman, 2020. "The Effect of Ethnic Community on Acculturation and Cultural Adaptation: the Case of Russian-Speaking Older Adults," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1057-1081, December.
    7. Pitukhina, Maria & Tolstoguzov, Oleg & Belykh, Anastasia, 2022. "Арктические Местные Сообщества И Зарубежная Трудовая Миграция В Российской Арктике [Arctic local communities and foreign labour migration in Russian arctic]," MPRA Paper 115159, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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