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. 2019 Jun;21(3):497-507.
doi: 10.1007/s10903-018-0768-8.

Socioeconomic Status and the Physical and Mental Health of Arab and Chaldean Americans in Michigan

Goleen Samari  1 , Miles McNall  2 , KyungSook Lee  2 , Harry Perlstadt  3 , Stephanie Nawyn  3
Affiliations

Socioeconomic Status and the Physical and Mental Health of Arab and Chaldean Americans in Michigan

Goleen Samari et al. J Immigr Minor Health. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Research that explains health of Arab and Chaldean Americans relative to the health of non-Arab White Americans is limited but steadily increasing. This study considers whether socioeconomic status moderates the relationship between race/ethnicity and physical and mental health. Data come from a state representative sample of Arab and Chaldean Americans-the 2013 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey and the 2013 Michigan Arab/Chaldean Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (N = 12,837 adults with 536 Arab/Chaldean Americans). Structural equation models examine whether socioeconomic status, operationalized as educational attainment, moderates the relationship between Arab/Chaldean identity and health, and whether physical activity, access to healthcare, and depression mediate the relationship between educational attainment and health. Results indicate that while Arab/Chaldean Americans have poor health relative to non-Arab White Americans, these differences are largely explained by educational differences. Depression, access to healthcare, and physical activity mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and health of Arab/Chaldean Americans.

Keywords: Arab Americans; BRFSS; Chaldean Americans; Mental health; Physical health; Structural equation models.

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