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Psychological Distress Among Immigrants and Visible Minorities in Canada: a Contextual Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Mai Stafford

    (Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL, London, UK, m.stafford@ucl.ac.uk)

  • Bruce K. Newbold

    (Institute for Environment and Health, School of Geography & Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)

  • Nancy A. Ross

    (Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Abstract

Background: Immigrants to Canada are less likely to report depression compared with the non-immigrant population. This healthy migrant effect has not so far been explained by demographic and socioeconomic determinants of health. Aim: The present study examined whether the psychological health advantage of immigrants varied across Canadian health regions and investigated the hypothesis of immigrant density as a determinant of immigrant mental health advantage. Methods: Data from the 2000—2001 Canadian Community Health Survey were used to build multi-level models estimating variation in depression within and between health regions by immigrant/visible minority status. Results: Immigrant and visible minority residents were less likely to experience depression compared with the general population. Depression varied across health regions and the extent of variation was greater for visible minorities. The likelihood of depression decreased with increasing percentage of immigrants in the region among visible minority participants but not among whites. Conclusions: The protection against depression afforded by immigrant and visible minority status in Canada appears to depend on contextual factors, notably the percentage of immigrants in the region. Future work should seek to better characterize the experiences of visible minorities in different settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Mai Stafford & Bruce K. Newbold & Nancy A. Ross, 2011. "Psychological Distress Among Immigrants and Visible Minorities in Canada: a Contextual Analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(4), pages 428-441, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:57:y:2011:i:4:p:428-441
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764010365407
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Ellen-ge D Denton & Jonathan A Shaffer & Carmela Alcantara & Lynn Clemow & Elizabeth Brondolo, 2015. "Hispanic residential ethnic density and depression in post–acute coronary syndrome patients: Re-thinking the role of social support," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(3), pages 225-235, May.
    3. Danan Gu & Haiyan Zhu & Ming Wen, 2015. "Neighborhood-health links: Differences between rural-to-urban migrants and natives in Shanghai," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(17), pages 499-524.
    4. Hechao Jiang & Daniel T. L. Shek & Moon Y. M. Law, 2021. "Differences between Chinese Adolescent Immigrants and Adolescent Non-Immigrants in Hong Kong: Perceived Psychosocial Attributes, School Environment and Characteristics of Hong Kong Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Usha George & Mary S. Thomson & Ferzana Chaze & Sepali Guruge, 2015. "Immigrant Mental Health, A Public Health Issue: Looking Back and Moving Forward," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-25, October.
    6. Scott Daniel Emerson & Anita Minh & Martin Guhn, 2018. "Ethnic density of regions and psychiatric disorders among ethnic minority individuals," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(2), pages 130-144, March.
    7. Kyunghwa Kwak, 2018. "Age and Gender Variations in Healthy Immigrant Effect: a Population Study of Immigrant Well-Being in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 413-437, May.

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