Day-to-day discrimination and health among Asian Indians: A population-based study of Gujarati men and women in Metropolitan Detroit.

Yoshihama, Mieko; Bybee, Deborah; Blazevski, Juliane

This study examined the relationship between experiences of day-to-day discrimination and two measures of health among Gujaratis, one of the largest ethnic groups of Asian Indians in the U.S. Data were collected via computer-assisted telephone interviews with a random sample of Gujarati men and women aged 18-64 in Metropolitan Detroit ( N = 423). Using structural equation modeling, we tested two gender-moderated models of the relationship between day-to-day discrimination and health, one using the single-item general health status and the other using the 4-item emotional wellbeing measure. For both women and men, controlling for socio-demographic and other relevant characteristics, the experience of day-to-day discrimination was associated with worse emotional wellbeing. However, day-to-day discrimination was associated with the single-item self-rated general health status only for men. This study identified not only gender differences in discrimination-health associations but also the importance of using multiple questions in assessing perceived health status.

MICHIGAN; IMMIGRANTS; STRUCTURAL equation modeling; WELL-being; DISCRIMINATION (Sociology); HEALTH status indicators; INTERVIEWING; AUTOMATIC data collection systems; CHI-squared test; FACTOR analysis; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; QUESTIONNAIRES; GUJARATIS (Indic people)

Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2012, Vol 35, Issue 5, p471

0160-7715

Academic Journal

10.1007/s10865-011-9375-z