Middle-aged Immigrants Research Articles

Addresses the Problem of Aging Population by Immigration in the United States

Abstract: The aging problem is becoming increasingly serious in various countries. The United States was also not spared and foreshadowed an equally negative future trend, which would lead to many problems in various aspects. Therefore, the United States has taken some policies to adapt to aging, but has not actually solved the problem. Some people believe that immigration can improve the problems brought about by the aging population. This article explores the mentioned approach through literature research and simulation. The way of immigration can improve population structure to alleviate population aging, which can be classified into two types - the age structure and the employment structure. In terms of age structure, the article will discuss how immigrants can alleviate the social risks caused by aging by the increasing number of immigrants at the working age. For the employment structure, the article will illustrate the answer to solve the slow economic evolution leaded by aging in regards to filling job vacancies for young and middle-aged immigrants.

Associations in physical activity and sedentary behaviour among the immigrant and non-immigrant US population

BackgroundImmigrants are at a higher risk of poor mental and physical health. Regular participation in physical activity (PA) and low levels of sedentary time are beneficial for both these aspects...

Age and the pursuit of happiness among immigrants

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how various factors, particularly ones associated with ability to assimilate to a new country such as social capital and human capital, may affect the happiness of immigrants in different age groups.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes the New Immigrant Survey 2003, which is a nationally representative survey of immigrants who became permanent US residents, to produce four separate ordered logit regressions, each for a different age group, 18-34, 35-49, 50-59, and 60 and older.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that employment is important to happiness among young immigrants (age 18-34). For middle-aged immigrants happiness is strongly related to family life (i.e. being married, having children), human capital, and wealth. For older immigrants (age 60 and over) happiness is significantly linked to social capital (i.e. involvement in religious institutions, communication ties to friends and family).Practical implicationsUnderstanding factors associated with the happiness of immigrants can help communities to undertake appropriate support and services for different age groups.Originality/valueThe study differentiates what contributes to the happiness of immigrants in different age groups. Most studies only include a binary categorical variable for age groups and do not employ a fully differentiated analysis for age. The study also explores how social capital relates to happiness. Studies of happiness among immigrants mostly omit any role of social capital variable.

The Body Mass Index Assimilation of US Immigrants: Do Diet and Exercise Contribute?

We explore the potential causes of the unhealthy body mass index (BMI) assimilation of US immigrants to native levels. Diet — measured by fat, carbohydrate, protein, and caloric intake — and exercise have mixed success in explaining immigrants’ BMI convergence. Assimilation differs by age. Middle-aged immigrants exhibit poor behaviors consistent with unhealthy BMI gains. Worse diets may contribute to BMI increases among young immigrants who increase their intake of saturated fats. There are differences in behaviors by income, as poorer immigrants exhibit greater convergence to unhealthy native eating habits. Home country conditions influence dietary assimilation, with heterogeneity across Mexican and non-Mexican immigrants.

Circling Back: Reconstituting Ethnic Community Networks among Aging Filipino Americans

Although there is an expansive literature on the assimilation and transnational experiences of middle-aged immigrants and their second-generation children, little work examines the experiences of immigrant elderly, particularly Asian Americans. Existing scholarship on segmented assimilation has generally assumed that elderly immigrant experiences continue the trajectories of middle age. Drawing on in-depth interviews with elderly Filipino American immigrants, the author finds a shift from the white middle-class mainstream path to an ethnic networks path of incorporation. Although middle-class immigrants may exhibit patterns and living situations similar to native whites throughout most of their lives, their experiences as racialized Americans may prompt desires to reconnect with ethnic networks in later life. This pattern, in which groups that have ostensibly assimilated throughout their life course recreate ethnic communities near the end of it, is rendered visible through a framework the author terms life course assimilation, which emphasizes the need to study assimilation processes at all life stages.

Stress in Migrant Farmworkers During Premigration

This study explored the relationship between migrant farmworker (MFW) stress and salivary cortisol (sC) in a sample of MFWs prior to migration. The sample, 40 (N = 14 male, 26 female) adult MFWs residing in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, primarily comprised middle-aged immigrants with a middle-school education. This pilot feasibility study included a self-report farmworker stress inventory and five serial sC specimens in 24 hr. The sC measures reflected an expected diurnal pattern. Lower total cortisol (area under the curve with respect to ground) was significantly associated with greater waist circumference (r = -.63, p ≤ .01). Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that participants who perceived high levels of farmworker stress exhibited a significant change in sC over time; F(2.14, 72.65) = 43.90, p < .001. High- and low-perceived-stress groups differed significantly in the trajectory of changes in sC over the five time points. MFWs experienced significant levels of stress during premigration. Their sC responses varied significantly by level of perceived farmworker stress. Lower perceived stress may reflect blunting of the sC response pattern.

The Israeli ‘Russian’ Community and Immigrants Party Politics in the 2003 Elections

The Israeli ‘Russian’ Community and Immigrants Party Politics in the 2003 Elections

Personal Characteristics, Unemployment, and Anxiety among Highly Educated Immigrants

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study examines the relationship between personal resources (sense of potency, marital quality, social support from family and friends), the duration of unemployment, and the level of state anxiety experienced by highly educated, unemployed, middle‐aged immigrants. Studying the anxiety levels among populations at‐risk such as unemployed immigrants is particularly important in the context of situations of military conflict. In such situations, when formal support systems are in the process of erosion, the unemployed must increasingly rely on social and familial support. The following measures were examined in an anonymous, self‐report questionnaire: potency (defined as a person's enduring confidence in his/her own capacities and confidence in, and commitment to, his/her social environment which is perceived as being characterized by a basically meaningful order and just distribution of rewards), social support from friends and family, marital quality, and state anxiety. Results indicate that personal resources – particularly potency and social support from family – predicted the level of state anxiety among immigrants. Duration of unemployment was also positively correlated with state anxiety. A major recommendation that emerges is the need to foster the development of social support groups consisting of both veterans and new immigrants in order to broaden the social ties of the immigrants. This may assist newcomers not only in finding jobs, but also in coping with political and economic uncertainties in a new cultural context.

Age differences in stress process of recent immigrants.

In the present study we sought to examine whether age affects the relationship between stress/social support and psychological distress in community residents in Israel who recently emigrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU). A cross-sectional and partly longitudinal design was used to compare emotional distress, stressor, and social support measures in three age groups (18 to 29, 30 to 59, and 60 to 86 years) of adult immigrants (N = 563). Age-related differences in the parameters of interest and their changes over time were examined with analysis of variance (ANOVA), t tests, and multiple regression analyses. We found that older immigrants reported higher levels of health-related stressors, but did not differ on total social support from younger immigrants. Specific predictors of elevated distress differed by age. For the youngest cohort, these included climate changes and anxiety for the future. For the middle-aged immigrants, these included female gender, lower education, unemployment, and longer time in Israel. For the oldest immigrants, predictors of distress included being divorced, separated, or widowed, and perceiving long-time residents of Israel as hostile. Only the middle-aged cohort showed a significant decline in levels of perceived stressors and distress during a 1-year follow-up. Thus, age differences in the stress process of recent immigrants are associated with age-specific perceived adjustment difficulties and demographic characteristics.

The effect of age on gender differences in the psychological distress ratings of immigrants

Gender differences in psychological distress were examined to test the effect of age and other sociodemographic variables on a well-known phenomenon of higher ratings of psychological symptoms in women. Levels and symptoms of psychological distress were assessed using the 24-item self-administered scale of the Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory (TBDI) in a representative community sample of 1953 adult Russian-born Jewish immigrants to Israel. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the effects of sociodemographic variables on gender differences in psychological distress and symptomatology. Substantial gender differences were found in the overall level of psychological distress, with greater distress reported by females than by males. The phenomenon of gender difference depended largely on age, with greater differences found in middle-aged immigrants. Expression of most symptoms (except paranoid ideation) was greater among females than males, but these differences disappeared differentially with age for different symptoms: gender differences in hostility disappeared after 40 years of age, in obsessiveness and sensitivity after 50 and in depression after 60. Gender differences in anxiety remained consistent over age. Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings and, in addition, showed that gender interacted with length of immigration factor within the fourth decade and with family composition factor within the sixth decade of the lifespan. These findings support our contention that gender difference in the expression of most distress symptoms is an age-dependent phenomenon. The possible determinants of the gender differences in psychological distress are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.