APHA
Back to Annual Meeting Page
 
American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
3090.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - 10:30 AM

Abstract #108715

Correlates of depression for midlife and older immigrants: Resilience, family functioning, and spouses’ mental health

Arlene Michaels Miller, PhD, RN1, Olga Sorokin, MPH2, and Edward Wang, PhD2. (1) Public Health, Mental Health & Admin. Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 South Damen, Room 1016, Chicago, IL 60077, 312-996-9356, arlenem@uic.edu, (2) College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 S. Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60612

Although there is considerable evidence that family context is important to psychological wellbeing after immigration, few studies consider the impact that spouses have on each other for midlife and older immigrant couples. The purpose of this study is to identify age and gender differences in correlates of depression, including resilience, family functioning, employment status, and spouses' mental health. Participants are 154 immigrant women from the former Soviet Union aged 42-77 and their husbands. Data are from an ongoing longitudinal study of acculturation and health. For women, mean age was 59.68 (s.d. 8.59) and mean time in US was 5.93 years (s.d. 2.23); for men, mean age was 62.56 (s.d. 9.04) and mean time in US was 5.97 years (s.d. 2.45). When divided into three age groups (<50; 51-60; >60), depression scores were significantly higher for 51-60 year olds than for younger participants, with no difference between the youngest and oldest groups. Paired comparison t-tests indicated that spouses did not differ significantly on depression, resilience, or family functioning scores except for the oldest age group, in which wives were more depressed and husbands reported higher resilience scores. When wives' depression scores were regressed on resilience, family functioning, employment status, and husbands' depression, models for the 3 age groups differed, with employment a significant predictor for women aged 51-60 and spouses' depression a significant predictor for women over 50. Similar differences were found across age groups for men. Additional findings and implications for family-centered interventions across the lifecycle will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

Keywords: Immigrants, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

Identifying Health Risks that Impact Immigrants and Refugees

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA