IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i15p9166-d872937.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health

Author

Listed:
  • Mosi Adesina Ifatunji

    (Departments of African American Studies and Sociology, College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

  • Yanica Faustin

    (Department of Public Health Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Elon University, Elon, NC 27244, USA)

  • Wendy Lee

    (Department of Sociology, College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI 54706, USA)

  • Deshira Wallace

    (Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

Abstract

After more than a century of research and debate, the scientific community has yet to reach agreement on the principal causes of racialized disparities in population health. This debate currently centers on the degree to which “race residuals” are a result of unobserved differences in the social context or unobserved differences in population characteristics. The comparative study of native and foreign-born Black populations represents a quasi-experimental design where race is “held constant”. Such studies present a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the social determinants of population health disparities. Since native and foreign-born Black populations occupy different sociocultural locations, and since populations with greater African ancestry have greater genetic diversity, comparative studies of these populations will advance our understanding of the complex relationship between sociocultural context, population characteristics and health outcomes. Therefore, we offer a conceptual framing for the comparative study of native and foreign-born Blacks along with a review of 208 studies that compare the mental and physical health of these populations. Although there is some complexity, especially with respect to mental health, the overall pattern is that foreign-born Blacks have better health outcomes than native-born Blacks. After reviewing these studies, we conclude with suggestions for future studies in this promising area of social and medical research.

Suggested Citation

  • Mosi Adesina Ifatunji & Yanica Faustin & Wendy Lee & Deshira Wallace, 2022. "Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-40, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9166-:d:872937
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9166/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9166/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas, J.W. & Barr-Anderson, D.J. & Kington, R.S., 2003. "Health Status, Health Insurance, and Health Care Utilization Patterns of Immigrant Black Men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(10), pages 1740-1747.
    2. Audrey L. Jones & Susan D. Cochran & Jane Rafferty & Robert Joseph Taylor & Vickie M. Mays, 2020. "Lifetime and Twelve-Month Prevalence, Persistence, and Unmet Treatment Needs of Mood, Anxiety, and Substance Use Disorders in African American and U.S. versus Foreign-Born Caribbean Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Sanchez-Vaznaugh, Emma V. & Kawachi, Ichiro & Subramanian, S.V. & Sánchez, Brisa N. & Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores, 2008. "Differential effect of birthplace and length of residence on body mass index (BMI) by education, gender and race/ethnicity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1300-1310, October.
    4. Cabral, H. & Fried, L.E. & Levenson, S. & Amaro, H. & Zuckerman, B., 1990. "Foreign-born and US-born Black women: Differences in health behaviors and birth outcomes," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 80(1), pages 70-72.
    5. Heather Antecol & Kelly Bedard, 2006. "Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 337-360, May.
    6. Wasse, H. & Holt, V.L. & Daling, J.R., 1994. "Pregnancy risk factors and birth outcomes in Washington State: A comparison of Ethiopian-born and US-born women," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(9), pages 1505-1507.
    7. Melissa Scopilliti & John Iceland, 2008. "Residential Patterns of Black Immigrants and Native‐Born Blacks in the United States," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(3), pages 551-572, September.
    8. Doamekpor, L.A. & Dinwiddie, G.Y., 2015. "Allostatic load in foreign-born and US-born blacks: Evidence from the 2001-2010 national health and nutrition examination survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(3), pages 591-597.
    9. Tod Hamilton, 2014. "Selection, Language Heritage, and the Earnings Trajectories of Black Immigrants in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 975-1002, June.
    10. Peace C. Okpala & Carrie Rosario & Melissa J. Dupont-Reyes & Michelle Y. Martin Romero & Md Towfiqul Alam & Hailey Paivanas & Sandra E. Echeverria, 2022. "Nativity Status and Poly Tobacco Use among Young Adults in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-8, January.
    11. Hoffman, S. & Beckford Jarrett, S.T. & Kelvin, E.A. & Wallace, S.A. & Augenbraun, M. & Hogben, M. & Liddon, N. & McCormack, W.M. & Rubin, S. & Wilson, T.E., 2008. "HIV and sexually transmitted infection risk behaviors and beliefs among black West Indian immigrants and US-born blacks," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(11), pages 2042-2050.
    12. Elo, I.T. & Culhane, J.F., 2010. "Variations in health and health behaviors by nativity among pregnant black women in Philadelphia," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(11), pages 2185-2192.
    13. Henning-Smith, C. & Shippee, T.P. & McAlpine, D. & Hardeman, R. & Farah, F., 2013. "Stigma, discrimination, or symptomatology differences in self-reported mental health between US-born and Somalia-born Black Americans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(5), pages 861-867.
    14. Hunte, H.E.R. & Barry, A.E., 2012. "Perceived discrimination and DSM-IV-based alcohol and illicit drug use disorders," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(12), pages 111-117.
    15. Hicken, Margaret T. & Kravitz-Wirtz, Nicole & Durkee, Myles & Jackson, James S., 2018. "Racial inequalities in health: Framing future research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 11-18.
    16. Doyle, O. & Joe, S. & Caldwell, C.H., 2012. "Ethnic differences in mental illness and mental health service use among Black fathers," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(S2), pages 222-231.
    17. Krieger, N. & Kosheleva, A. & Waterman, P.D. & Chen, J.T. & Koenen, K., 2011. "Racial discrimination, psychological distress, and self-rated health among US-born and foreign-born black Americans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(9), pages 1704-1713.
    18. Broman, C.L. & Neighbors, H.W. & Delva, J. & Torres, M. & Jackson, J.S., 2008. "Prevalence of substance use disorders among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks in the National Survey of American Life," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(6), pages 1107-1114.
    19. Williams, D.R. & Haile, R. & González, H.M. & Neighbors, H. & Baser, R. & Jackson, J.S., 2007. "The mental health of Black Caribbean immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(1), pages 52-59.
    20. Gibbs, T.A. & Okuda, M. & Oquendo, M.A. & Lawson, W.B. & Wang, S. & Thomas, Y.F. & Blanco, C., 2013. "Mental health of African Americans and Caribbean blacks in the United States: Results from the national epidemiological survey on alcohol and related conditions," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(2), pages 330-338.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christy L. Erving, 2024. "Stress Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease Risk among US Black Women: Ethnicity and Nativity Intersections," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(3), pages 1-29, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:pri:crcwel:wp08-15-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bijou, Christina & Colen, Cynthia G, 2022. "Shades of health: Skin color, ethnicity, and mental health among Black Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    3. Audrey L. Jones & Susan D. Cochran & Jane Rafferty & Robert Joseph Taylor & Vickie M. Mays, 2020. "Lifetime and Twelve-Month Prevalence, Persistence, and Unmet Treatment Needs of Mood, Anxiety, and Substance Use Disorders in African American and U.S. versus Foreign-Born Caribbean Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Lisa M. Bates & Julien O. Teitler, 2008. "Immigration and low birthweight in the US: The role of time and timing," Working Papers 1085, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    5. Ullmann, S. Heidi & Goldman, Noreen & Pebley, Anne R., 2013. "Contextual factors and weight change over time: A comparison between U.S. Hispanics and other population sub-groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 40-48.
    6. Claire E. Altman & Jennifer Van Hook & Jonathan Gonzalez, 2017. "Becoming Overweight without Gaining a Pound: Weight Evaluations and the Social Integration of Mexicans in the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 3-36, March.
    7. John, Dolly A. & de Castro, A.B. & Martin, Diane P. & Duran, Bonnie & Takeuchi, David T., 2012. "Does an immigrant health paradox exist among Asian Americans? Associations of nativity and occupational class with self-rated health and mental disorders," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2085-2098.
    8. Bousmah, Marwân-al-Qays & Combes, Jean-Baptiste Simon & Abu-Zaineh, Mohammad, 2019. "Health differentials between citizens and immigrants in Europe: A heterogeneous convergence," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 235-243.
    9. Janevic, T. & Savitz, D.A. & Janevic, M., 2011. "Maternal education and adverse birth outcomes among immigrant women to the United States from Eastern Europe: A test of the healthy migrant hypothesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 429-435, August.
    10. Ro, Annie & Fleischer, Nancy, 2014. "Changes in health selection of obesity among Mexican immigrants: A binational examination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 114-124.
    11. Irma Elo & Neil Mehta & Cheng Huang, 2011. "Disability Among Native-born and Foreign-born Blacks in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 241-265, February.
    12. Bridget K. Gorman & Cynthia Novoa & Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, 2016. "Migration Decisions, Acculturation, and Overweight among Asian and Latino Immigrant Adults in the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 728-757, September.
    13. Ou, Susan, 2019. "Are some neighborhoods bad for your waistline? A test of neighborhood exposure effects on BMI," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 52-63.
    14. Santosh Jatrana & Ken Richardson & Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti, 2018. "The Effect of Nativity, Duration of Residence, and Age at Arrival on Obesity: Evidence from an Australian Longitudinal Study," VID Working Papers 1811, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    15. Tiffany Green & Tod Hamilton, 2019. "Maternal educational attainment and infant mortality in the United States: Does the gradient vary by race/ethnicity and nativity?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(25), pages 713-752.
    16. Sunmin Lee & Allison H O’Neill & Emily S Ihara & David H Chae, 2013. "Change in Self-Reported Health Status among Immigrants in the United States: Associations with Measures of Acculturation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-1, October.
    17. Samuel Fishman, 2020. "An extended evaluation of the weathering hypothesis for birthweight," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(31), pages 929-968.
    18. Sandra Albrecht & Ana Diez Roux & Allison Aiello & Amy Schulz & Ana Abraido-Lanza, 2013. "Secular trends in the association between nativity/length of US residence with body mass index and waist circumference among Mexican-Americans, 1988–2008," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(4), pages 573-581, August.
    19. Philip Q. Yang & Shann Hwa Hwang, 2016. "Explaining Immigrant Health Service Utilization," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, May.
    20. Ana Cristina Lindsay & Qun Le & Mary L. Greaney, 2017. "Infant Feeding Beliefs, Attitudes, Knowledge and Practices of Chinese Immigrant Mothers: An Integrative Review of the Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    21. Dominguez, Tyan Parker & Strong, Emily Ficklin & Krieger, Nancy & Gillman, Matthew W. & Rich-Edwards, Janet W., 2009. "Differences in the self-reported racism experiences of US-born and foreign-born Black pregnant women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 258-265, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9166-:d:872937. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.