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

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.