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

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Abstract

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.

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Notes

  1. There are two mental health categories in the SF36; one is a summary measure, and the other is one of the eight dimensions.

  2. Because some research on discrimination and health has found a significant interaction between discrimination and length of residency in the U.S. on measures of health (e.g., Gee et al., 2008), we tested for interactions but found no significant effects for either men or women.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CE000507-04 to M. Yoshihama). We thank the project staff, community action team members, interviewers and staff of the Institute for Social Research. We wish to express our sincere appreciation for the study participants.

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  1. School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1106, USA

    Mieko Yoshihama & Juliane Blazevski

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Deborah Bybee

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  1. Mieko Yoshihama
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Correspondence to Mieko Yoshihama.

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Yoshihama, M., Bybee, D. & Blazevski, J. Day-to-day discrimination and health among Asian Indians: A population-based study of Gujarati men and women in Metropolitan Detroit. J Behav Med 35, 471–483 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9375-z

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