Community-level prejudice and mortality among immigrant groups

Abstract

This study assesses whether anti-immigrant prejudice at the community level is prospectively associated with mortality. We used 10 waves of data from the General Social Survey (GSS) that were linked to mortality data via the National Death Index (NDI) for the period between 1993 and 2014 (n = 13,242). The 2014 GSS-NDI dataset is a nationally representative sample reporting social characteristics and attitudes in the United States that was prospectively linked to mortality data. Community-level prejudice was measured with 5 questions regarding anti-immigrant sentiments across 123 communities, defined using primary sampling units. Cox proportional hazards models tested the association between anti-immigrant prejudice and mortality hazard, controlling for covariates at the individual and community levels. Findings showed that among "other race" respondents, those born in the US had higher risk of mortality in communities with greater anti-immigrant prejudice, whereas foreign-born "other race" respondents had lower risk of mortality in communities with greater anti-immigrant prejudice. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the "other race" category was comprised largely of Asians and Hispanics, and that these results were similar for both groups. In contrast, anti-immigrant prejudice was not associated with mortality for foreign-born immigrants who self-report as white or black. We provide various hypotheses for why US-born immigrant groups seem to suffer higher mortality risk, while foreign-born immigrant groups do not, when they live in communities with high levels of prejudice.

Comparability of Mortality Estimates from Social Surveys and Vital Statistics Data in the United States

“…The GSS is a veritable goldmine for population health researchers because it contains variables not available in any other dataset. The GSS-NDI has been used in studies linking social characteristics such as exposure to individual-and institutional-level discrimination, sexual minority status, happiness, political ideology, emotion suppression, observed skin tone, and other statuses, attitudes, and behaviors with adult mortality risk (Chapman et al 2013;Lawrence et al 2015;Lee et al 2015;Morey et al 2018;Muennig et al 2013;Pabayo et al 2015;Stewart et al 2018). Researchers could not have established these associations with any other nationally-representative datasets.…”

Intersectional Stigma and Multi-Level Barriers to HIV Testing Among Foreign-Born Black Men From the Caribbean

“…The anti-immigrant campaign slogan, "Build the wall" supported enthusiasm for the implementation of stringent immigration policies along the US-Mexico border and the Executive Order 13769, entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, which was also known as the Muslim ban (152,153). Research suggests that community-level prejudice and xenophobia also increased mortality among immigrant groups (154). Most studies have focused on hate crimes (155)(156)(157)(158), especially among transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals (159)(160)(161), or police violence and Black Lives Matter before and after the 2016 election (162)(163)(164)(165).…”

Factors associated with cyber-victimization among immigrants and non-immigrants in Canada: A cross-sectional nationally-representative study.

“…Of particular importance, the apparent divergence between neighbourhood 'welcome' and 'discrimination' in explaining cyberbullying risk among immigrants and non-immigrants could indicate that cohesion within a neighbourhood may be associated with risk through separate pathways for immigrants compared to non-immigrants. For example, an individual's perception of an 'unwelcoming' neighbourhood may be a more adequate proxy than 'discrimination' in explaining the link between inclusion/exclusion and risk of cyber-victimization for immigrants, and could reflect how rising anti-immigration sentiment in North America (31,49) is operating in subtler ways in the Canadian context than more overt neighbourhood-level discriminatory acts. Conversely, it is also plausible that the absence of an association between neighbourhood discrimination and cyber-victimization for immigrants reflects underlying differences in socialization processes related to time since arrival among immigrants (50).…”