Psychological Distress among Foreign Born Americans: A Comparison among White, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese Americans
Phu Phan, Thanh V. Tran

Abstract
This study examines race/ethnic and age differences in psychological distress among foreign born Americans. We used the 2009 California Health Survey Interview (CHIS) that consisted of 5,573 foreign born older individuals aged 18 to 85 including 2,623 White, 792 Chinese, 829 Korean, and 1,329 Vietnamese respondents. Regression analysis was used via Stata 12.1. The results revealed that foreign born Americans aged 64 and under consistently reported a higher level of psychological distress than older respondents aged 65 and over across the four selected racial/ethnic groups. Marital status, education, income, and employment status had significant relationship with psychological distress.The findings suggest that both race/ethnicity and age should be taken into consideration in the understanding of psychological distress among immigrants.

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