Abstract
Although acculturation may have positive effects for immigrants, including better socioeconomic profiles and increased occupational opportunities, their health profiles deteriorate with longer duration in the U.S. Prior research indicates that increasing acculturation is associated with some poorer health outcomes among immigrants in the U.S. However, most of these studies have used length of stay or English language proficiency as proxies for acculturation, and have mainly examined self-reported “current” health outcomes. This study advances knowledge on associations between acculturation and health among immigrants by explicitly examining self-reported “change” in health since immigration, in relation to acculturation-related variables. We use data from the New Immigrant Survey (NIS; 2003-2004), a cross-sectional study of legal immigrants to the U.S. In addition to testing more conventionally examined proxies of acculturation (length of stay and English proficiency), we also examine English language use and self-reported change in diet. Multivariable logistic regression analyses on 5,982 participants generally supported previous literature indicating a deleterious impact of acculturation, with increasing duration of stay and greater self-reported change in diet being associated with a poorer change in health since moving to the U.S. Although English language proficiency and use were associated with greater odds of reporting a worse change in health when examined individually, they were non-significant in multivariable models including all acculturation measures. Findings from this study suggest that when taking into account multiple measures of acculturation, language may not necessarily indicate unhealthy assimilation and dietary change may be a pathway leading to declines in immigrant health. Increasing duration in the U.S. may also reflect the adoption of unhealthy behaviors, as well as greater exposure to harmful sources of psychosocial stress including racial and anti-immigrant discrimination. Our study suggests that multiple indicators of acculturation may be useful in examining the effect of acculturation on changes in health among immigrants.
Highlights
Immigrants conventionally display improved socioeconomic profiles with increasing duration in the U.S or through successive generations, the opposite holds true for health outcomes, an effect known as unhealthy assimilation [1,2]
More than a third of respondents who had lived in the U.S for ten years or less were Asian, while those who had lived in the U.S for eleven or more years were predominantly Hispanic
Additional significant covariates were race/ethnicity, with Hispanic immigrants being most likely to report a worse change in health compared to those in other racial/ethnic groups; and marital status, with those who were divorced, widowed, or separated, being most likely to report a worse change in health
Summary
Immigrants conventionally display improved socioeconomic profiles with increasing duration in the U.S or through successive generations, the opposite holds true for health outcomes, an effect known as unhealthy assimilation [1,2]. Research has consistently shown an inverse relationship between socioeconomic position and health across various self-reported measures and clinical observations of disease [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Immigrants, even those with lower socioeconomic positions, have generally been shown to have better health compared to their native born counterparts at the time of or shortly after immigration [10,11,12,13]. Several studies have shown that this health advantage deteriorates over time and with successive generations in the U.S [10,15,16,17] as well as in other countries [18,19,20]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
