Sorting out the competing effects of acculturation, immigrant stress, and social support on depression: a report on Korean women in California.

Full Abstract

This research identifies stressors that correlate with depression, focusing on acculturation, among female Korean immigrants in California. Telephone interviews were conducted with female adults of Korean descent (N = 592) from a probability sample from 2006 to 2007. Sixty-five percent of attempted interviews were completed, of which over 90% were conducted in Korean. Analyses include descriptive reports, bivariate correlations, and structural equation modeling. Findings suggest that acculturation did not have a direct impact on depression and was not associated with social support. However, acculturation was associated with reduced immigrant stress which, in turn, was related to decreased levels of depression. Immigrant stress and social support were the principal direct influences on depression, mediating the effect for most other predictors. Stressful experiences associated with immigration may induce depressive feelings. Interventions should facilitate acculturation thereby reducing immigrant stress and expand peer networks to increase social support to assuage depression.

Author information

Author/s: Ayers, John W (JW); Hofstetter, C Richard (CR); Usita, Paula (P); Irvin, Veronica L (VL); Kang, Sunny (S); Hovell, Melbourne F (MF);

Affiliation: Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. jayers(-atsign-)jhsph.edu

Grants: R01CA105199 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of nervous and mental disease (J Nerv Ment Dis), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 197 (issue 10) : pp 742-7

Dates: Created 2009/10/15; Completed 2009/10/29;

PMID: 19829202, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/29/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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