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Major depression in Chinese Americans

The roles of stress, vulnerability, and acculturation

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Abstract

Background

This study examined the relationship between recent negative life events, level of acculturation and other psychosocial risk factors in predicting major depression in Chinese Americans.

Method

Data were collected on 1,747 Chinese immigrants and native-born residents of the United States (ages 18–65) who resided in Los Angeles County between 1993 and 1994.

Results

Findings indicated that a positive psychiatric history increased risk for major depression at Time 2, while social conflicts and traumatic life events moderated the effects of negative life events in increasing risk for major depression. In addition, level of acculturation moderated the effects of recent negative events in increasing risk, but only for those who were more highly acculturated.

Conclusions

The importance of testing the cross-cultural applicability of the stress-vulnerability hypothesis among ethnic minorities and extending them to include immigrant vulnerabilities is discussed

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Notes

  1. For more detailed reports of sampling methodology and sample characteristics, see [1, 2, 18, 19].

  2. Please note that although group differences in recent negative life events and social conflict were significant, the absolute differences were small and should be interpreted with caution.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this study was provided by NIMH Grants 47460 and 44331.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, 850 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA

    Wei-Chin Hwang PhD

  2. Dept. of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Hector F. Myers PhD

Authors
  1. Wei-Chin Hwang PhD
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  2. Hector F. Myers PhD
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Correspondence to Wei-Chin Hwang PhD.

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Hwang, WC., Myers, H.F. Major depression in Chinese Americans. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 42, 189–197 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0152-1

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