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Unpacking the Association Between Length of Residence and Health Among Immigrants in Canada: A Moderated Mediation Approach

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Abstract

The present study examines (1) whether perceived life stress mediates the associations between length of residence in Canada and self-rated mental health and general health and (2) how these processes differ across levels of perceived local community belonging. Data are from the 2017–2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 14,570)—a nationally representative survey collected by Statistics Canada. Simple mediation and moderated mediation models are employed. The simple mediated associations are evaluated first and found to be statistically significant for both self-rated mental health (b = 0.046, 95% PBCI = 0.035, 0.058) and general health (b = 0.045, 95% PBCI = 0.034, 0.056). Moderated mediation analysis then reveals that while perceived local community belonging does not moderate the effects of length of residence on perceived life stress, it does moderate the effects of perceived life stress on self-rated mental health (b = − 0.042, 95% PBCI = − 0.057, − 0.028) and general health (b = − 0.026, 95% PBCI = − 0.042, − 0.011), suggesting that the adverse associations between perceived life stress and self-rated mental health and general health are weaker among immigrants with greater perceived local community belonging. Consistent with the predictions, the indirect effects are significant at all levels of local community belonging. Findings from this study highlight the need to focus more research and policy interventions on community-based coping resources.

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON, M5S 2J4, Canada

    Lei Chai

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  1. Lei Chai
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The present study uses a public version of the 2017–2018 Canadian Community Health Survey collected by Statistics Canada. Thus, this study does not need an ethics board approval from my institution.

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Chai, L. Unpacking the Association Between Length of Residence and Health Among Immigrants in Canada: A Moderated Mediation Approach. J Immigrant Minority Health 25, 38–49 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01377-x

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