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Trends and mental health correlates of discrimination among Latin American and Asian immigrants in the United States

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine the national trends and mental health correlates of discrimination among Latin American and Asian immigrants in the United States.

Methods

We examine data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected between 2004 and 2013. Recurrent discrimination was measured by respondent reports of adverse experiences such as receiving poor treatment in restaurants or being called a racist name.

Results

Rates of perceived discrimination increased by more than 80 percent among immigrants from Latin America (from 14% in 2004 to 25% in 2013), but remained unchanged among Asian immigrants (20–22%). Large percentage point (pp) increases were observed among Latin American immigrants with less than a high school education (pp increase = 13.5) and residing in households earning $20-35,000 annually (pp increase = 14.0).

Conclusions

Findings raise concern both because of the inherent iniquitousness of discrimination and because identity-based mistreatment is linked with mental health problems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Boston University, 264 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Christopher P. Salas-Wright, Jorge Delva & Mariana Cohen

  2. School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA

    Michael G. Vaughn

  3. School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Trenette Clark Goings

  4. Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Sehun Oh

  5. Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Prevention Science and Community Health, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Christopher P. Salas-Wright & Seth J. Schwartz

Authors
  1. Christopher P. Salas-Wright
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  2. Michael G. Vaughn
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  3. Trenette Clark Goings
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  4. Sehun Oh
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  5. Jorge Delva
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  6. Mariana Cohen
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  7. Seth J. Schwartz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher P. Salas-Wright.

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The author declares that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number K01AA026645. The research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under Award Number R25 DA030310. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIAAA, NIDA, or the NIH.

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Salas-Wright, C.P., Vaughn, M.G., Goings, T.C. et al. Trends and mental health correlates of discrimination among Latin American and Asian immigrants in the United States. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 55, 477–486 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01811-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01811-w

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