Health and immigration among Asian Americans: Migration selectivity, socioeconomic status and negative assimilation

My dissertation examines the relationship between immigration and health among Asian Americans, particularly the factors contributing to the healthy immigrant effect among newly-arrived Asian Americans and the worsening health among immigrants with increasing length of residence. Using a nationally representative sample of Asian Americans from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), I explore the effects of migration selectivity, socioeconomic status and negative assimilation upon multiple health outcomes among Asian Americans, including self-rated physical health, self-rated mental health, somatic symptoms, psychiatric disorders and psychological distress. My analyses indicate that the well-documented healthy immigrant effect among the Latino immigrants also holds for Asian Americans: Asian immigrants with less than five years of residence enjoy better health than U.S.-born Asians, and the health benefits are mainly from those voluntary migrants. The health advantages among newly-arrived Asian immigrants tend to deteriorate with increasing duration of residence. I focus on socioeconomic status variables and assimilation processes to explore the underlying mechanisms that explain that health erosion among long-term immigrants. Main findings suggest that, compared with Asian immigrants with short duration of residence, those long-term immigrants tend to have lower ratings on their self-perceived community status, they also experience more family conflicts, and are more likely to report everyday discrimination and racial/ethnic discrimination, all of which lead to their health declines.