Social Work Today E-Zine

Asian American immigrants who came to the United States before they were 25 years old have poorer mental health than their compatriots who came when they were 25 or older, according to data from the first national mental health survey of Asian Americans.

The study is noteworthy because it shows that using traditional measures of socio-economic status—number of years of school and household income—to predict health outcomes is not accurate for individuals who immigrate when they are children or young adults, according to Janxin Leu, a University of Washington assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study.

Immigrants who arrived in the United States before they were 25 attained higher levels of education and income than did older immigrants. However, 13% of the younger immigrants reported symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder in the previous 12 months compared with 9% of the over-25 group.

Leu and the other researchers found that what is called subjective social status was more accurate in predicting mental health outcomes than income or education. To calculate this, they told the people surveyed to imagine a ladder with 10 rungs containing individuals who had achieved the most on the top rung and those who were least successful on the bottom. Then they were asked to place themselves on the ladder in comparison with other people.

“The under-25 group experiences a lot of stress, the so called ‘long-reach of childhood’ that comes at a formative time of development,” Leu says. “It is important to understand the early development of mental health. Children who are bullied because they are immigrants, for example, may suffer long-term mental health consequences.”

— Source: University of Washington