Chronic Illnesses and Depression Among Chinese Immigrant Elders

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to explore the unique effects of various chronic illnesses on depression in a sample of Chinese immigrant elders. Methods: The data were collected in the Greater Boston area at various social service agencies, social, and religious institutions. A self-administered sample of 177 Chinese-speaking immigrant elders was included in the study. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure depressive symptoms in the study. Regression analysis was performed for three measures of depression: 7-selected CES-D scale, its subscale somatic symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Results: Chronic illBei Wu is affiliated with the

Depression Among Korean Immigrant Elders Living in Canada and the United States: A Comparative Study

“…Prior studies have shown that physical exercise prevented, and even helped treat, depression in older adults (Blumenthal et al, 1999;Strawbridge, Deleger, Roberts, & Kaplan, 2002). Along with physical exercise, health management behavior, such as visits to a doctor's office, was also significantly associated with a lower level of depressive symptoms (Wu et al, 2004). Acculturative stress can be minimized with a greater level of support from ethnic communities.…”

“…Depending on health conditions, the mental health of aging populations may be either aggravated or mitigated. Prior studies have demonstrated that physical health is an important predictor of depression in older age among the general population (Falcón & Tucker, 2000), and among Asian immigrant elders, specifically in New York City and Boston (Mui, 1996;Wu, Tran, & Amjad, 2004), and in small cities in the United States and Canada (Lai & Surood, 2008;H.-Y. Lee et al, 1996).…”

Depressive symptoms and health problems among Chinese immigrant elders in the US and Chinese elders in China

“…To assure cultural equivalence, the translation was also reviewed and evaluated by two bilingual social workers who worked with Chinese elders in the Boston Chinese community. For a detailed description of instrumentation see Wu et al (2004).…”

Depression Risks and Correlates among Different Generations of Chinese Americans: The Effects of Relationships with Friends and Relatives

“…However, the generalizability of the study results were limited because the study samples were adolescents or college-aged individuals (Greenberger and Chen 1996;Almeida et al 2011), Asian Americans rather than Chinese Americans (Sangalang and Gee 2012), regional community data (Lieber et al 2001), or the elderly (Wu et al 2004). Furthermore, no study has compared the effects of …”