Determinants of Asian Immigrant Workers Mental Health and Work Performance

Details

• Personal Author:
  Salazar MK ; Thompson EA ; Tsai JH-C
• Description:
  Background: Mental health and substance use problems are prevalent in the working population and profoundly affect work performance and risks for injuries. As the severity of psychological symptoms increases, so does workers' time away from job. Research demonstrates that discrimination increases mental health problems among ethnic minorities. Psychosocial aspects of work such as job insecurity also adversely affect workers' well-being. Social support from family/friends and at the workplace might dampen the effects of discrimination and job concerns on mental health and substance use problems, and subsequently worker performance. This research used two sequential studies to investigate the hypothesized effects of social discrimination, job concerns, and social support on Asian immigrant workers' mental health and substance use problems, highly relevant to work performance. The goal was to generate new knowledge for the future design of theory-driven interventions for promoting health and safety among Chinese and Filipino immigrant workers, an underrepresented population in occupational safety and health research. Study 1: We examined the effects of social discrimination, job concerns, and social support on Filipino immigrant workers' mental health problems and substance use, using a subset (n=1,397) of Filipino immigrants in an existing nationally-representative dataset, Filipino American Community Epidemiological Study (fACES, Takeuchi, PI, 1998-1999). Questionnaire items were rated using Likert-type response options, with higher values indicating higher levels of the variable of interest. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to estimate the full model. The findings revealed general support for the hypothesized model, particularly related to mental health. Social discrimination and social support showed significant direct effects on mental health problems and substance use (p<.05); general job concerns directly influenced mental health problems, but not substance use among Filipino immigrant workers. Mental health problems and substance use were correlated, which suggested co-occurrence. Study 2: We extended knowledge gained from Study 1 in examining newly collected data from 194 Chinese immigrant workers currently employed in food services. We included measures to examine the influence of workplace support and work performance as outcomes influenced by mental health problems. Each Chinese participant completed the comprehensive, in-person interview conducted in Chinese. As in Study 1, questionnaire items were rated using Likert-type response options, with higher values indicating higher levels of the variable of interest. SEM findings with Chinese immigrant workers partially supported the hypothesized model. Specially, job concerns significantly influenced mental health problems, which mediated the influence of discrimination, job concerns, and social support on work performance and work-related injuries. Implications: This research generated new findings about the influence of rarely studied social determinants on mental health of Filipino and Chinese immigrant workers, and in particular the relevance of mental health as a mechanism by which social determinants influence work performance and work-related injuries. The findings warrant considerations of broader social conditions in designing preventive interventions for improving immigrant worker health and safety. Further investigations of policy and inventions targeting mental health promotion should offer additional insights into strategies to reduce or prevent work performance loss and injuries among workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emigration And Immigration Health Promotion Mental Health Minority Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Substance-Related Disorders
• Keywords:
  Health Promotion Immigrant Workers Injuries Injury Prevention Mental Health Minority Health Psychological Effects Psychosocial Factors Substance Abuse
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060652
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2021-100202
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, K01-OH-009308, 2012 Jul; :1-13
• Contact Point Address:
  Jenny Hsin-Chun Tsai, University of Washington, School of Nursing, Dept. of Psychosocial and Community Health, Box 357263, Seattle, WA 98195-7263
• Email:
  jennyt@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20080501
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20120430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8faa0a05c7b5c8a3ece30fd39cf10863fab36633ab131b72a9b1f3a7fc8c02dd26dc42cb5db8e692afa1b805a1d19fd8c75a7c6b8b1de2751af0cfca07c4a13e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219005/cdc_219005_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 208.14 KB ]