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Immigration-related stressors and mental health problems among Asian-American Immigrants

coded as binary variables to contrast those having these mental health problems (1)
with others who did not report depressive disorder and suicidal ideation (0).

2.2.2 Focal Independent Variables
Respondents were categorized into two groups for English proficiency: poor/ fair
versus good/excellent (the reference group). Age at immigration was measured by a
single dummy variable that contrasts immigration at 12 years old or younger (child
immigrants) with immigration after 12 years old (adolescent and adult immigrants),
with the latter being the reference group. We use “12 years old” as the cut-off
point because this age refers to the “1.5 generation” who arrived in the U.S. during
childhood or before their early teens (Rumbaut, 1994). They have their home country
characteristics but continue their acculturation in the U.S., thus they are considered
as “halfway” between the first generation and second generation (the U.S.-born)
immigrants.
Three indicators — religious affiliation, service attendance and religious coping
—were used to measure individual religious involvement. Religious affiliation was
recorded into three categories, namely, Protestant or Catholics (Christian), no religious
preference (the reference category), and other religions. Respondents were asked how
often they attended religious services and we recoded the responses to contrast those
attending religious services on a weekly base with all the others. Religious coping was
measured by asking respondents how often they seek comfort from religion/spirituality
by praying, meditating, attending a religious/spiritual service, or talking to a religious
or spiritual advisor, when encountering problems/difficulties in their family, work, or
personal life. The response categories include never, rarely, sometimes, and often. We
recorded these responses to contrast those often seeking comfort from religion with
all the others. We believe that religion plays a more significant role in the daily life of
individuals who often seek comfort from religion and they are qualitatively different
from others.
2.2.3 Control Variables

Control variables include socio-demographics such as age, gender (female=1), income,
marital status, educational attainment, place of education, duration of immigration,
employment status and ethnicity. Respondents’ age ranges from 18 to 97 years old.
We recorded age (in years) into four groups: 18–34 (the reference category), 35–49,
50–64, and 65 years and above. Income was measured by respondent’s annual income
in constant dollars (recoded into four categories: less than 15,000 dollars, 15,000 to
34,999 dollars, 35,000 to 74,999 dollars, and 75,000 dollars or more). Marital status
was categorized as “married” (the reference category), “divorced/separated/widowed”
and “never married”. Educational attainment was divided into four groups, i.e. “less
than 11 years of education (without high school diploma)”, “12 years of education (high
school graduation), “13 years to 15 years education (some college) and “16 years of
education or more (with college degree; the reference category)”. We controlled for
place of education (i.e., the majority of education received before 16 years old). We
contrasted those who received their education primarily in the U.S. to those received
education in other countries (the reference category). Previous studies suggest that the
detrimental effect of stressor is more salient for the foreign-educated Asian Americans
because foreign education indicates limited psychosocial resources, fewer economic
opportunities, and lower levels of English proficiency (Walton, Takeuchi, Herting, et
al. 2009; Zhang and Hong, 2013). Duration of immigration was categorized into four
groups: less than 5 years (reference), 5 to 10 years, 11 to 20 years, and more than 20
years. Employment status was recorded as “employed”, “unemployed” (the reference
category), and “not in the labor force”. Ethnic groups include “Filipino,” “Vietnamese,”
“Chinese,” and “Other Asian” with the Chinese being the reference category.
We also controlled for perceived social support because it is a potential protective
factor that may buffer the detrimental effect of stressors on mental health among Asian-
American immigrants (Mossakowski and Zhang, 2014). We included two variables that

28 International Journal of Population Studies 2017, Volume 3, Issue 1