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David T. Takeuchi, PhD, Nolan Zane, PhD, Seunghye Hong, MA, David H. Chae, MA, Fang Gong, PhD, Gilbert C. Gee, PhD, Emily Walton, MA, Stanley Sue, PhD and Margarita Alegría, PhD

David T. Takeuchi, Seunghye Hong, Emily Walton, and David H. Chae are with the University of Washington, Seattle. Nolan Zane and Stanley Sue are with the University of California, Davis. David H. Chae is also with the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass. At the time of this study, Fang Gong was with Indiana University, Bloomington. Gilbert C. Gee is with the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Margarita Alegria is with the Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Mass and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to David T. Takeuchi, PhD, University of Washington, Box 354900, 4101 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 (e-mail: dt5{at}u.washington.edu).

ABSTRACT

Objectives. We examined lifetime and 12-month rates of any depressive, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders in a national sample of Asian Americans. We focused on factors related to nativity and immigration as possible correlates of mental disorders.

Methods. Data were derived from the National Latino and Asian American Study, the first national epidemiological survey of Asian Americans in the United States.

Results. The relationships between immigration-related factors and mental disorders were different for men and women. Among women, nativity was strongly associated with lifetime disorders, with immigrant women having lower rates of most disorders compared with US-born women. Conversely, English proficiency was associated with mental disorders for Asian men. Asian men who spoke English proficiently generally had lower rates of lifetime and 12-month disorders compared with nonproficient speakers.

Conclusions. For Asian Americans, immigration-related factors were associated with mental disorders, but in different ways for men and women. Future studies will need to examine gender as an important factor in specifying the association between immigration and mental health.

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