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Arab immigrants: a new case for ethnicity and health?

Author

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  • Read, Jen'nan Ghazal
  • Amick, Benjamin
  • Donato, Katharine M.

Abstract

Community-based studies of Arab Americans point to significant health problems among the immigrants, a finding that runs contrary to theories of immigrant selectivity. This study is the first to use nationally representative data to test this question. Using new questions that identify region of birth in the 2000 and 2001 National Health Interview Surveys, we compare the self-rated health and activity limitation of Arab immigrants to US-born white Americans and test the extent to which social, demographic, and immigrant characteristics account for observed disparities. The results find that Arab immigrants do not significantly differ from US-born whites in their self-rated health and are less likely to report limitations in activity. Length of time in the US has no composite effect on health; however, US citizenship does. Compared to the most recent immigrant arrivals, Arab immigrants who are citizens report worse health while their peers who are not officially American (non-citizens) do not, regardless of their duration of US residency. Contrary to prior studies on Arab health, we find that Arab immigrants are not uniformly disadvantaged in their health outcomes and that their health profile is more diverse than currently documented. The results also suggest that controlling for years of US residency may be insufficient for capturing the cumulative effects of acculturation on immigrant health. We conclude by suggesting avenues of future research for capturing heterogeneity among emergent ethnic populations such as Arab Americans.

Suggested Citation

  • Read, Jen'nan Ghazal & Amick, Benjamin & Donato, Katharine M., 2005. "Arab immigrants: a new case for ethnicity and health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 77-82, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:1:p:77-82
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abdulrahim, Sawsan & Baker, Wayne, 2009. "Differences in self-rated health by immigrant status and language preference among Arab Americans in the Detroit Metropolitan Area," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2097-2103, June.
    2. Lee, Min-Ah, 2011. "Disparity in disability between native-born non-Hispanic white and foreign-born Asian older adults in the United States: Effects of educational attainment and age at immigration," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1249-1257, April.
    3. Daoud, Nihaya & Shankardass, Ketan & O’Campo, Patricia & Anderson, Kim & Agbaria, Ayman K., 2012. "Internal displacement and health among the Palestinian minority in Israel," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1163-1171.
    4. Read, Jen'nan Ghazal & West, Jessica S. & Kamis, Christina, 2020. "Immigration and health among non-Hispanic whites: The impact of arrival cohort and region of birth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    5. Reynolds, Megan M. & Chernenko, Alla & Read, Jen'nan Ghazal, 2016. "Region of origin diversity in immigrant health: Moving beyond the Mexican case," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 102-109.
    6. Dallo, Florence J. & Kindratt, Tiffany B. & Ajrouch, Kristine J., 2023. "Suitability of Middle Eastern and North African immigrant minimal reporting category for Arab immigrant health research in the national health interview survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).

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