The hypothesis of the article The Relationship between Length of Time in the U.S. and Mental Health among Immigrants by Park, Nish & Baptiste is that the prolonged presence of immigrants in the United States for various reasons increases their stress levels. The population of the research is predominantly Asians and Latinos immigrants as representatives of a minority group. The independent variable is the variable the researcher changes and is assumed to have an effect on the dependent variable. With regard to the independent variable, length of time in the U.S., 33% three percent of the sample lived in the U.S. one year or less; 40% lived in the U.S. between 2-3 years, and the rest (27%) lived in the U.S. between 4-5 years. The dependent variable is one that is being tested and measured in an experiment. Regarding psychological distress, the dependent variable, the empirical range covered almost the entire theoretical range: actual scores ranged from 26 to 92; the theoretical range is 25 to 100. Based on these data, it was concluded that the duration of stay in another country does not affect the stress level of immigrants.
Many other studies also confirm the results obtained. Immigrants claim that social, religious, and legal support helps them cope with the difficulties of the immigration process (Bailey et al., 2021). Immigrants need a sense of belonging to adapt, which greatly helps them to integrate into civil society (Ellis et al., 2021). A lot of work with immigrants is done by psychologists who seek to understand the essence of immigration and connect with advocacy groups such as Informed Immigrant, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and Immigrants Rising for policy updates and explanations of some of the more complex issues (Abrams, 2021). All these factors together mitigate the stress level of immigrants over time and do not allow it to increase depending on the time spent in another country. Thus, despite the large amount of stress that immigrants in general and minority groups, in particular, are exposed to, a long stay in the country is not related to the level of stress.
Search terms
- PsychINFO (2010-2021) the impact of immigration on mental health 568
- Medline (2010-2021) immigrants stress level 716
- PsychINFO (2010-2021) immigrants stress level 346
- Medline (2010-2021) immigrants depression 817
- PsychINFO (2010-2021) immigration families 696
References
Abrams, Z. (2021). How psychologists can help refugees. Monitor on Psychology, 52(7). Web.
Bailey, C. A., Venta, A., Varela, J., Salami, T., Ratcliff, C., & Gardner, J. (2021). Risk and protective markers for well-being in Latinx immigrants in removal proceedings. Law and Human Behavior, 45(3), 179-196. Web.
Ellis, B. H., Sideridis, G., Miller, A., Abdi, S. M., & Lincoln, A. K. (2021). Civic development and antisocial attitudes/behaviors among Somali immigrants: Change over one year. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(2), 157–168. Web.