Marriage, race/ethnicity, and psychological distress among foreign-born Chinese, Korean, Mexican, and Vietnamese Americans

The association between marriage and psychological distress has been well documented; however, whether race/ethnicity moderates this relationship remains vastly understudied. Our study investigated the effect of race/ethnicity on relationship between marriage and psychological distress among four groups of foreign-born Americans. Using the data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, we employed multivariate analyses to test the effect of interaction between marriage and race/ethnicity on psychological distress among foreign-born Mexicans (N=3,752), Chinese (N=812), Koreans (N=857) and Vietnamese (N=1,354). The analysis revealed that marriage significantly interacts with race/ethnicity in impacting psychological distress (F (7, 73) = 2.48, p <.01). Unmarried Mexicans (4.250, 95% CI = 3.566, 4.934) and unmarried Chinese (3.833, 95% CI = 2.738, 4.929) had a statistically greater average of psychological distress than married Mexicans (3.324, 95% CI = 3.124, 3.523) and married Chinese (2.591, 95% CI = 1.988, 3.184). Racial differences in terms of marital status and psychological distress existed only between married Chinese and Mexicans and between unmarried Mexicans and Vietnamese participants. Results highlight consideration for racial and ethnic differences in the association of marriage and psychological distress among these groups for culturally sensitive interventions.