Gubernskaya Zoya, Bean Frank D, Van Hook Jennifer
1University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, USA.
J Health Soc Behav. 2013;54(4):427-43. doi: 10.1177/0022146513504760.
This research argues that immigrants' political, social, and economic incorporation experiences, which are embedded in individual life course trajectories and heavily influenced by governmental policies, play an important role in producing diverse health outcomes among older U.S. foreign-born persons. Using data from the 2008-2010 American Community Survey and 1998-2010 Integrated Health Interview Series, we demonstrate how naturalization, a key indicator of social and political inclusion, is related to functional health in midlife and older age. Consistent with the theoretical framework, we find that among those foreign-born who immigrated as children and young adults, naturalized citizens show better health at older ages compared with noncitizens, although this relationship is partly mediated by education. But among those older foreign-born who immigrated at middle and older ages, naturalized citizens report worse health compared with noncitizens. Moreover, this negative health selection into naturalization becomes stronger for those naturalizing after the 1996 Welfare Reform Act.
本研究认为，移民的政治、社会和经济融入经历，这些经历嵌入个人生命历程轨迹并受政府政策的严重影响，在美国出生的老年人群体中产生多样化健康结果方面发挥着重要作用。利用2008 - 2010年美国社区调查和1998 - 2010年综合健康访谈系列的数据，我们展示了入籍这一社会和政治包容的关键指标如何与中年及老年时期的功能健康相关。与理论框架一致，我们发现，在儿童和青年时期移民的外国出生人群中，入籍公民在老年时的健康状况比非公民更好，尽管这种关系部分由教育介导。但在中年及老年时期移民的外国出生人群中，入籍公民报告的健康状况比非公民更差。此外，对于那些在1996年福利改革法案之后入籍的人来说，这种负面的健康选择进入入籍的情况变得更强。
