Developmental Stage at Immigration and Mental Health: Group-Specific Findings Among Asian and Latinx Young Adults.

IF 2.2 3区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Pub Date : 2026-10-09 DOI:10.1007/s40615-026-03222-5

Chang Zhao, G Alice Woolverton, Ritika Rastogi, Tiffany Yip, Sasha Zhou, Cindy H Liu

{"title":"Developmental Stage at Immigration and Mental Health: Group-Specific Findings Among Asian and Latinx Young Adults.","authors":"Chang Zhao, G Alice Woolverton, Ritika Rastogi, Tiffany Yip, Sasha Zhou, Cindy H Liu","doi":"10.1007/s40615-026-03222-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The immigrant paradox describes the phenomenon in which first-generation immigrants often report better mental health outcomes than their U.S.-born peers, despite facing greater social adversity. However, it remains unclear whether this phenomenon holds across specific mental health outcomes, racial/ethnic groups, and developmental stages at immigration. This study examined mental health among Asian and Latinx young adults who moved to the U.S. at different ages.Methods: Using data from the 2022-2023 Healthy Minds Study of Asian (N = 8,694) and Latinx (N = 6,128) college students, we applied logistic regression models to assess odds of probable depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicidal ideation among students who moved to the U.S. during childhood (before age 12), adolescence (ages 12-17), and young adulthood (ages 18-30), compared to co-ethnic U.S.-born peers.Results: Compared to U.S.-born Asians, Asian students who moved to the U.S. between ages 18 and 30 had lower odds of probable depression (OR = 0.82, p < .01), probable anxiety (OR = 0.78, p < .001), and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.80, p < .05), after adjusting for demographics. Latinx students who moved to the U.S. at different ages did not differ significantly in mental health outcomes, compared to U.S.-born Latinx peers.Conclusion: Among Asian students, a mental health advantage was observed only among students who arrived in adulthood. No such association was observed among Latinx students at any age of arrival. Findings point to distinct experiences of groups aggregated under broad racial and ethnic labels, depending on developmental timing of immigration.","PeriodicalId":16921,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-026-03222-5","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: The immigrant paradox describes the phenomenon in which first-generation immigrants often report better mental health outcomes than their U.S.-born peers, despite facing greater social adversity. However, it remains unclear whether this phenomenon holds across specific mental health outcomes, racial/ethnic groups, and developmental stages at immigration. This study examined mental health among Asian and Latinx young adults who moved to the U.S. at different ages.

Methods: Using data from the 2022-2023 Healthy Minds Study of Asian (N = 8,694) and Latinx (N = 6,128) college students, we applied logistic regression models to assess odds of probable depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicidal ideation among students who moved to the U.S. during childhood (before age 12), adolescence (ages 12-17), and young adulthood (ages 18-30), compared to co-ethnic U.S.-born peers.

Results: Compared to U.S.-born Asians, Asian students who moved to the U.S. between ages 18 and 30 had lower odds of probable depression (OR = 0.82, p < .01), probable anxiety (OR = 0.78, p < .001), and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.80, p < .05), after adjusting for demographics. Latinx students who moved to the U.S. at different ages did not differ significantly in mental health outcomes, compared to U.S.-born Latinx peers.

Conclusion: Among Asian students, a mental health advantage was observed only among students who arrived in adulthood. No such association was observed among Latinx students at any age of arrival. Findings point to distinct experiences of groups aggregated under broad racial and ethnic labels, depending on developmental timing of immigration.

查看原文本刊更多论文

移民的发展阶段与心理健康：亚洲和拉丁裔年轻人的群体特异性发现。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

5.10%

发文量

263

期刊介绍： Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities reports on the scholarly progress of work to understand, address, and ultimately eliminate health disparities based on race and ethnicity. Efforts to explore underlying causes of health disparities and to describe interventions that have been undertaken to address racial and ethnic health disparities are featured. Promising studies that are ongoing or studies that have longer term data are welcome, as are studies that serve as lessons for best practices in eliminating health disparities. Original research, systematic reviews, and commentaries presenting the state-of-the-art thinking on problems centered on health disparities will be considered for publication. We particularly encourage review articles that generate innovative and testable ideas, and constructive discussions and/or critiques of health disparities.Because the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities receives a large number of submissions, about 30% of submissions to the Journal are sent out for full peer review.