Decomposing the Healthy Immigrant Effect: The Role of GDP of Birth Country in Immigrant Health

This article reexamines the healthy immigrant effect in mental health—as measured by psychological distress—by incorporating the modifying roles of the level of economic development of origin-country and life-stage at arrival among a sample of immigrants to Toronto, Canada—as compared to the native-born. The analytic sample included 2,157 adults, of which 31 percent were immigrants. Multivariate results point to a healthy immigrant effect in distress, but only among immigrants from less developed origin-countries who migrated to Canada in mid-adulthood (between 25 and 34 years of age). Further, this health advantage deteriorates with increase in length of residence only among this group of migrants, in large part because of an increase in chronic stressors. Immigrants from more developed origin-countries do not experience a healthy immigrant effect, as compared to the native-born, nor an increase in distress with tenure in Canada, irrespective of the life-stage at immigration.

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Return Migration and the 'Healthy Immigrant Effect'

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1096456 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Monika Sander

Keyword(s):

Return Migration ◽

Healthy Immigrant Effect ◽

Immigrant Effect

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Abstract P232: Worse Cardiometabolic Health in African Immigrants than African-Americans: Reconsideration of the Healthy Immigrant Effect

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.129.suppl_1.p232 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Anne E Sumner ◽

Michelle Y O'Connor ◽

Caroline K Thoreson ◽

Madia Ricks ◽

Amber B Courville ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Insulin Resistance ◽

Adipose Tissue ◽

African Americans ◽

Visceral Adipose Tissue ◽

African Immigrants ◽

Cardiometabolic Health ◽

Sensitivity Index ◽

Healthy Immigrant Effect ◽

Immigrant Effect ◽

Visceral Adipose

In decades past, African immigrants were considered to have better cardiometabolic health than African Americans. Whether this health advantage continues to exist in the 21st century is unknown. To explore differences in markers of cardiometabolic health, oral glucose tolerance tests, blood pressure (BP), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume and the waist circumference (WC) which predicts insulin resistance were compared in 210 men (134 African immigrants, 76 African Americans, mean age 36±9y (mean±SD), range 20-64y) who self-identified as healthy. Insulin resistance was defined by the lowest quartile of the insulin sensitivity index (SI≤2•28mU/L-1.min-1). Receiver operating characteristic curves and the Youden Index were used to identify the WC which optimally predicts insulin resistance. BMI was lower in African immigrants than African Americans (27.4±3.9 vs. 29.3±5.5kg/m2, P<0.01). Adjusting for BMI, WC did not differ between groups (93±5 vs. 94±5cm, P=0.55); but African immigrants had more visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (P<0.001) higher BP (P≤0.01), higher fasting glucose (P≤0.001) and 2h glucose (P<0.001) as well as a higher prevalence of previously undiagnosed diabetes (7% (9 of 134) vs. 0% (0 of 76), P<0.01) and pre-diabetes (35% (47 of 134) vs. 22% (17 of 76), P<0.01). Degree of insulin resistance did not differ in African immigrants and African Americans (4.17±2.88 vs. 4.24±2.61 (mU/L)-1 .min-1, P=0.88). Yet, the WC which optimally predicted insulin resistance was lower in African immigrants than African Americans, specifically 92 cm and 102 cm, respectively. As African immigrants had higher VAT, BP and glucose levels than African Americans, the healthy immigrant effect may no longer be a valid concept. As insulin resistance occurred at a lower WC in African immigrants than African Americans, lower BMI in African immigrants does not appear to provide protection from cardiometabolic risk.

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Does Literacy Moderate the Relationship between Age of Migration and Cognitive Change: Results from the Washington Heights-Inwood Community Aging Project (WHICAP)

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology ◽

10.1093/arclin/acz029.11 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 1244-1244

Author(s):

C I Carrión ◽

F Arias ◽

M Diaz-Santos ◽

S-A Levy ◽

T G Hill-Jarrett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Functioning ◽

Mexican Americans ◽

Cognitive Change ◽

Older Age ◽

Motor Speed ◽

Healthy Immigrant Effect ◽

The Us ◽

Literacy Ability ◽

Immigrant Effect ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Objective The “healthy immigrant effect” pertains to findings that Hispanics/Latinos born outside of the US tend to be physically and emotionally healthier than individuals born in the US. However, immigrant Latino groups residing in the US have higher incidences of dementia (Tang et al., 2001). Sex/gender and years of education have been found to moderate the relationship between age of migration and cognitive functioning among immigrants born in Mexico (Garcia et al., 2017; Hill et al., 2012). While years of education has been the focus of many studies, literacy (ability to read/write) has been less frequently explored as a moderator of age of migration and cognitive change. We investigated the effect of age of migration on cognitive trajectory in a diverse Latino population and explored whether literacy influences the association between age of immigration and cognitive change. We hypothesize that literacy (ability to read/write) will buffer the effects of age of migration on cognitive (memory, language, motor speed, visuospatial) trajectory. Participants and Method Age at baseline, English fluency, country of birth, sex/gender, and years of education were included as time-invariant covariates and literacy was tested as a moderator via multiple group modeling. Results Results show that age of migration is marginally and inversely associated with baseline cognitive performance (p < .01). Thus, individuals who immigrated at an older age had lower baseline cognitive scores than their counterparts. Age of migration was not associated with cognitive change. Independent of covariates, literacy did not buffer the negative effects of later age at migration on cognitive function. Conclusions Results suggest that literacy confers a small advantage in premorbid cognition, but does not protect against cognitive decline over time. These findings also suggest that adults who immigrate at an older age present with lower cognitive scores at baseline, but do not experience faster rates of cognitive change. References Tang, M. X., Cross, P., Andrews, H., Jacobs, D. M., Small, S., Bell, K., ... & Mayeux, R. (2001). Incidence of AD in African-Americans, Caribbean Hispanics, and Caucasians in northern Manhattan. Neurology, 56, 49-56. Garcia, M. A., Reyes, A. M., Downer, B., Saenz, J. L., Samper-Ternent, R. A., & Raji, M. (2018). Age of migration and the incidence of cognitive impairment: A cohort study of elder Mexican-Americans. Innovation in aging, 1, igx037. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx037. Hill, T. D., Angel, J. L., Balistreri, K. S., & Herrera, A. P. (2012). Immigrant Status and Cognitive Functioning in Late Life: An Examination of Gender Variations in the Healthy Immigrant Effect. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 75, 2076–2084. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.04.005.

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Discrimination and the healthy immigrant effect: A focus on marriage migrant women in Korea

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal ◽

10.1177/0117196818814033 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 451-475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hyemee Kim

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Healthy Immigrant Effect ◽

Acculturation Process ◽

Reported Health ◽

Immigrant Effect ◽

Self Reported Health Status ◽

The Relationship ◽

Over Time ◽

Status Of Women

Why does immigrants’ health deteriorate over time? Numerous scholars across multiple disciplines have probed the question, and the term “healthy immigrant effect” was coined precisely to describe this paradoxical phenomenon. This study aims to examine, first, the existence of the healthy immigrant effect among marriage migrant women in Korea, and second, to evaluate the discrimination-health relationship as a potential explanation for the healthy immigrant effect. The 2012 National Survey of Multicultural Families was used for the analyses, using the self-reported health status of women as a measure of health. The results indicate that the health status of marriage migrant women in Korea is lower among those who have stayed longer, and that experiences of discrimination partially mediate the relationship between the acculturation process and the health status of marriage migrant women.

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