Stress and health among Polynesian migrants to New Zealand

Abstract

A survey study of 228 Samoans, 212 Cook Islanders, and 224 native-born New Zealanders of European background randomly selected from the same working-class neighborhoods of Auckland was interviewed in their own language by same-sex interviewers on their adaptation to life in New Zealand's major industrial city. Strong positive associations were found between the number of symptoms of poor health reported and both the frequency of external situational stressors and the strength of Type A psychological attributes, which together account for 25% of the variance in health status. These statistical relationships were replicated within all ethnic and both sex groups. Social support systems, however, did not provide the stress-buffering effects anticipated, raising the issue of the possible psychic costs of maintaining these kinship ties, particularly among Samoan migrants.