The role of colorism and immigrant generation in shaping health outcomes among Asian Americans

• In Event: 50260 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 4: Health and Mental Health Across Migrant and Asian Communities

Abstract

This study aims to address three questions. First, what is the role of colorism in health outcomes of Asian Americans? Second, how does the skin tone-health relationship differ by immigrant generational status? Third, do perceived stress, perceived discrimination, socioeconomic status (SES), health behaviors, and social support mediate these skin color differences in health? Findings suggest that there is a significant skin color association when observing variance by immigrant generational status: Darker skin color is associated with higher odds of hypertension, better self-rated health, and lower BMI among later immigrant generations of Asian Americans. Results also suggest that the proposed mediators did little to explain the associations between skin color and health by immigrant generational status. Given the extensive diversity of the Asian American population and relatively limited scope of current research on the ways in which disparities in health outcomes by skin color may exist and function among this group, it is imperative to consider such salient factors when studying one of the fastest-growing racial groups in the United States. This study remains one of a few to discover skin tone heterogeneity in health among Asian Americans during young adulthood and integrates a combination of objective and self-reported measures of health from a nationally representative, longitudinal dataset. It is also one of few studies to examine whether and how within-group disparities are influenced by exposure to various stressors, SES, health behaviors, and social support.

Author

• Alexandra Ro, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill