March 2007
RESEARCH: Immigrants—Especially from Asia—Have Fewer Mental Disorders Than Native-Born Print
Immigrants from Asia have lower rates of psychiatric disorders than American-born Asians and other native-born Americans, according to the first national epidemiological survey of Asian Americans in the United States.

The study showed different mental health patterns among women and men, with birthplace the key factor for women and English-language proficiency the main variable among men. Asian-American immigrant women were far less likely to suffer from a depressive, anxiety, substance abuse or psychiatric disorder in their lifetime than were U.S.-born women. Immigrant men who reported good or excellent English skills were less likely to have mental health problems than were those who had poorer English proficiency or American-born men.

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Illustration by Lydia Hess.
“Compared to all Americans, Asian Americans had lower lifetime rates of any disorder,” says David Takeuchi, a sociologist and UW social work professor and lead author of the study. “Roughly 48 percent of Americans will have some kind of a lifetime disorder. In our study, less than one in four Asian-American immigrants will have a disorder. However, that won't necessarily be the case for their children and grandchildren. If trends continue, rates for them will go up and that suggests that more investment is needed for prevention programs.”

The study was published in the November 2006 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Other papers in the journal look at the mental health of Latino and black Caribbean immigrants to the United States. In general, all of the papers suggest that immigrants have lower rates of mental disorders than native-born Americans.

The researchers used a questionnaire designed by the World Health Organization to find out about incidents in the past year and lifetime of depression, anxiety, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, substance and alcohol abuse, and eating disorders. The questionnaire was available in six languages, although nearly three-quarters of the interviews were conducted in English.

The study also found that:
• There were no significant differences among the main immigrant groups, the Chinese, Filipinos and Vietnamese.
• Asian immigrants who came as elementary school-age children have an easier time learning English than older children, but are more at risk to develop a substance abuse problem.
• American-born women are twice as likely to have a depressive disorder than Asian-born women.
• Among men, those born elsewhere are less likely to have a substance abuse problem than Asian American men born in the United States.

The study also raised a number of questions that Takeuchi said the researchers want to look at in the future, such as comparing immigrants who voluntarily migrate with those who are refugees.