Date of Award
Fall 2024
Language
English
Embargo Period
11-16-2024
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School/Department
Department of Sociology
Program
Sociology
First Advisor
Kate Strully
Committee Members
Kate Strully, Jonathan Dirlam, Tomoko Udo
Keywords
Body image, Mental health, Nativity status, Adolescents, Immigrant paradox
Subject Categories
Demography, Population, and Ecology | Epidemiology | Public Health | Sociology
Abstract
Previous research on the immigrant health paradox among children and adolescents show a mental health advantage yet it is unclear if this applies in a similar magnitude to females (Fillion et al., 2018; Zarei et al., 2023). Immigrants may be exposed to stressors related to immigration and acculturation. Some research suggests that females respond more to stress through internalizing symptoms relative to males (Hall-Lande et al., 2007; Adkins et al., 2009). Given these gender differences in stress response, female immigrants may be particularly vulnerable to the psychological consequences of immigration related stressors. The immigrant health paradox has also overlooked subjective measures of body weight such as body image which may provide insight into how immigrants adjust to a new context. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study explores whether overestimating weight and depressive symptoms differ by nativity status among Asian and Hispanic female adolescents. The findings show no evidence that Asian and Hispanic female’s depressive symptoms differ by nativity status nor was there any evidence that overestimating weight differs by nativity status among these subgroups. In sum, this study provides an estimate of how ethnicity and nativity status affect body image and depressive symptoms across U.S. adolescent females. The findings contribute to our understanding of the immigrant health paradox and suggest that it is not applicable to all health outcomes.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Prasad, Radhika, "A Descriptive Analysis of Depressive Symptoms and Body Image by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity Status among Adolescents" (2024). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 58.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/58