Immigrant Health Around the World: Evidence from the World Values Survey

Profiling racial prejudice during COVID-19: Who exhibits anti-Asian sentiment in Australia and the United States?

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, anti-Asian racism increased around the world, as exhibited through greater instances of abuse and hate crimes. To better understand the scale of anti-Asian racism and the characteristics of people who may be expressing racial prejudice, we sampled respondents in Australia and the United States over 31 August-9 September 2020 (1375 Australians and 1060 Americans aged 18 or above; source YouGov). To address potential social desirability bias, we use both direct and indirect (list experiment) questions to measure anti-Asian sentiment and link these variables to key socioeconomic factors. We find that, instead of being universal among general populations, anti-Asian sentiment is patterned differently across both country contexts and socioeconomic groups. In the United States, the most significant predictor of anti-Asian bias is political affiliation. By contrast, in Australia, anti-Asian bias is closely linked to a wide range of socioeconomic factors including political affiliation, age, gender, employment status and income.

Traditional health-related practices of Russian-speaking immigrants

The population of foreign-born residents continues to grow in the United States. One of the largest growing groups of immigrants is the population of Russian-speakers moving from the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (Soviet Union/USSR). Like many other immigrants, Russian speakers present with various health concerns. Empirical literature indicates a gap in research that addresses culturally based beliefs and behaviors related to health in this group of immigrants. A qualitative ethnographic study that addresses the health-related practices of Russian-speaking immigrants was conducted on the East Coast of the United States. Twenty-eight participants, ages 36-86, were interviewed, along with participant observation and analysis of documents. Data analysis revealed three related categories: perception of health, perception of illness, and health-related practices. Perceptions of health were influenced by families and defined roles within the family. Perceptions of illness were outlined by approaches to disease management and remedies to illness. Subsequently, the health-related practices of Russian-speaking immigrants were molded by perceptions of health and illness. Further research is recommended to examine specific health-related practices of Russian-speaking immigrants in the United States and to explore more diverse groups within this aggregate.

Mobility-related inequality in healthcare utilization between floating and native populations and its influencing factors: evidence from China

Our goal was to examine inequality in healthcare utilization and the factors that contribute to inequality between China's floating and native populations. Based on the China Labor-force Dynamics Surveys from 2014 to 2018, which used three rounds of data, we utilized a panel probit model that included fixed effects for time and province to estimate the probability of healthcare utilization for floating and native populations. In addition, we calculated the degree of inequality in healthcare utilization by using the method of mobility-related inequality and a decomposition approach was used to explain the contribution of each factor to the inequality. The floating population utilized healthcare at a lower rate, with a 10.5% probability of visiting a hospital and a 20.9% probability of receiving hospitalized treatment. The concentration index of mobility-related inequality in healthcare utilization shows a negative coefficient of −0.137 for hospital visits and −0.356 for hospitalized treatment. Contribution decomposition shows that self-assessed health, job category and household registration account for the largest contribution to the inequality in hospital visits, contributing −0.038, 0.021 and −0.017, respectively. Age, household registration and insurance account for the largest contribution to the inequality in hospitalized treatment, contributing −0.053, 0.024 and −0.023, respectively. The floating population was less likely to use health services and faced an inequality in treatment compared with the native population.

Socioeconomic Factors and Oral Health-Related Behaviours Associated with Dental Caries in Preschool Children from Central Italy (Province of Ascoli Piceno)

Background

Dental caries is a serious oral health concern with high prevalence in preschool children.

Aim

To assess the association among oral health-related behaviors, socioeconomic factors, and dental caries in Italian preschool children.

Design

513 preschool children from 3 to 6 years of age, enrolled in nursery schools in central Italy, represent the population of the present study. The children underwent dental clinical examination and were divided on the basis of their caries experience in the primary dentition (“Yes” or “No”). Nonparametric analysis and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the contribution of oral health-related behaviors and socioeconomic factors to the caries experience in the primary dentition.

Results

419 children were caries free, and 94 children had caries experience in the primary dentition, corresponding to the 18.4% of participants. Different oral health-related behaviors and socioeconomic factors resulted to be associated with caries development. In particular, the mother's foreign nationality results in a strong predictive factor.

Conclusions

The multivariate logistic model revealed factors significantly affecting caries experience in the primary dentition, which were the mother's nationality, the number of dental visits in a year, and the personal impression by the mother.

Does the healthy immigrant effect apply to mental health? Examining the effects of immigrant generation and racial and ethnic background among Australian adults

The healthy immigrant effect (HIE) refers to the phenomena in which immigrants show greater health outcomes than the native-born population. However, it is unclear what is the extent to which HIE applies to various outcomes and populations. Much of the work on HIE has revolved around physical health outcomes; mental health, however, has not garnered the same level of attention with regard to HIE. It is also uncertain whether immigrants’ health advantage persists beyond one generation. This study assesses the mental health of the first, second, and third and higher generations (70,517 person-year observations) for individuals from various racial and ethnic backgrounds in Australia using Waves 1−16 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. The dependent variable is mental health score and key independent variables include generation and racial and ethnic background. I control for age, educational attainment, labor force status, marital status, remoteness, household income, language, neighborhood disadvantage, citizenship, weight, and gender. Using linear regression with random effects, this study finds that mental health varies by generation; the third and higher generation show the greatest mental health score, followed by the first generation and the second generation, net of controls. Mental health score also varies by racial and ethnic background. Except for English-speaking groups, native-born Australians show a clear advantage over Europeans, North Africans/Middle Easterners, and Asians. Racial and ethnic disparities differ by generation and are strongest among the first generation. My findings extend HIE, which typically emphasize immigrants’ superior health outcomes over the native-born population but do not focus on racial and ethnic disparities among immigrants. My results suggest that immigrant groups vary widely in their mental health outcomes but these lessen over time. Overall, the findings suggest the limited applicability of HIE for a broad range of health outcomes and populations.

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The third and higher generation have the highest mental health scores, followed by the first and second generations.

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The first generation's mental health scores are associated with relatively fewer factors relative to the second and third and higher generations.

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English-speaking groups show the highest mental health followed by native-born Australians.

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All other minority groups show lower mental health scores.

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Racial and ethnic disparities in mental health differ by generation.

Are immigrants healthier than native-born Canadians? A systematic review of the healthy immigrant effect in Canada

OBJECTIVES

Immigrants are typically healthier than the native-born population in the receiving country and also tend to be healthier than non-migrants in the countries of origin. This foreign-born health advantage has been referred to as the healthy immigrant effect (HIE). We examined evidence for the HIE in Canada.

DESIGN

We employed a systematic search of the literature on immigration and health and identified 78 eligible studies. We used a narrative method to synthesize the HIE across different stages of the life-course and different health outcomes within each stage. We also examined the empirical evidence for positive selection and duration effects - two common explanations of migrants' health advantage and deterioration, respectively.

RESULTS

We find that the HIE appears to be strongest during adulthood but less so during childhood/adolescence and late life. A foreign-born health advantage is also more robust for mortality but less so for morbidity. The HIE is also stronger for more recent immigrants but further research is needed to determine the critical threshold for when migrants' advantage disappears. Positive selection as an explanation for the HIE remains underdeveloped.

CONCLUSIONS

There is an absence of a uniform foreign-born health advantage across different life-course stages and health outcomes in Canada. Nonetheless, it remains the case that the HIE characterizes the majority of contemporary migrants since Canada's foreign-born population consists mostly of core working age adults.

Safety, Threat, and Stress in Intergroup Relations: A Coalitional Index Model

Contact between people from different groups triggers specific individual- and group-level responses, ranging from attitudes and emotions to welfare and health outcomes. Standard social psychological perspectives do not yet provide an integrated, causal model of these phenomena. As an alternative, we describe a coalitional perspective. Human psychology includes evolved cognitive systems designed to garner support from other individuals, organize and maintain alliances, and measure potential support from group members. Relations between alliances are strongly influenced by threat detection mechanisms, which are sensitive to cues that express that one's own group will provide less support or that other groups are dangerous. Repeated perceptions of such threat cues can lead to chronic stress. The model provides a parsimonious explanation for many individual-level effects of intergroup relations and group-level disparities in health and well-being. This perspective suggests new research directions aimed at understanding the psychological processes involved in intergroup relations.