Predictors of psychological well-being amongst Korean immigrants to the United States: A structured interview survey

Background: As international migration becomes a common phenomenon in many countries, the health issues of immigrants are becoming an important area of concern among health care professionals worldwide. Objective: Adopting the stress-health outcome framework, this study examined risks and resources of both positive and negative affect (i.e., happiness and depression) among Korean Americans who experienced acculturative and recent life stresses. Methods: Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to examine correlates of positive and negative outcomes in the stress process on a final sample of 147 Korean immigrants from a cross-sectional Study. Results: For happiness, lower levels of acculturative stress and recent life stress, a greater sense of mastery, and greater social support were associated with an increased level of happiness. None of the individual characteristics were significant. R-2 for the full model was .53. For negative affect, acculturative stress and recent life stress explained a significant portion (41%) of the total variance associated with depression (R-2 = .51). As with the happiness variable, individual characteristics failed to add to the predictiveness of the equation, while sense of mastery and social support functioned as significant resources in reducing depression. Conclusion: Increased mastery and greater social support were consistently predictive of greater happiness and less depression. Implications for future immigrant research are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.