Income and Self-Rated Mental Health: Diminished Returns for High Income Black Americans

Assari, Shervin; Lapeyrouse, Lisa M.; Neighbors, Harold W.

doi:10.3390/bs8050050

Cited by 98 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Our finding regarding larger effects of history of non-fatal physical assault on risk of mortality in Whites compared to Blacks agrees with other research showing risk and protective factors have stronger effects for Whites than Blacks [20,55], a pattern which is frequently shown for physical and mental health outcomes ( [9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][56][57][58][59][60][61]; see References [20,55] for a review). Stronger effects of low education [17], unemployment [12], poor neighborhood quality [11], depression [16,18,19,62,63], hostility and anger [64], low sense of self efficacy [14], and low perception of control over life [65] were shown for Whites than Blacks.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

History of Non-Fatal Physical Assault Is Associated with Premature Mortality for Whites but Not Blacks

Assari

Haidar

2018

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Exposure to trauma increases the long-term risk of mortality, and experiencing non-fatal physical assault is not an exception. To better understand population heterogeneity in this link, the current study explored Black-White differences in the association between history of non-fatal physical assault and risk of all-cause mortality over a 25-year period in the United States. Data came from the Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) study that followed 3617 non-institutionalized respondents for up to 25 years. History of non-fatal physical assault at baseline was the predictor. Outcome was time to death due to all-cause mortality during follow-up from baseline (1986) to follow-up (2011). Confounders included gender, age, and baseline socio-economic status (education and income), health behaviors (smoking and drinking), and health status (chronic medical conditions, self-rated health, and body mass index). Race was the moderator. Cox regressions were used for multi-variable analysis. History of non-fatal physical assault at baseline was associated with an increased risk of mortality, above and beyond baseline socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health status. Race interacted with history of non-fatal physical assault on mortality, suggesting a stronger effect for Whites compared to Blacks. In race-specific models, history of non-fatal physical assault was associated with risk of mortality for Whites but not Blacks. The current study showed that experiencing non-fatal physical assault increases the risk of premature death above and beyond demographics, socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health status. Experiencing non-fatal physical assault may have a larger effect on premature mortality among Whites than Blacks. Future research is needed on how Blacks and Whites differ in the health consequences of social adversities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

History of Non-Fatal Physical Assault Is Associated with Premature Mortality for Whites but Not Blacks

Assari

Haidar

2018

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“…The observation that as income increases, the psychological well-being of middle-aged and older adults improves, but less for immigrants than non-immigrants, is an extension of previous literature on MDRs 21,22 of income, [23][24][25][26][27] educational attainment, 36 occupation, 29,30 and marital status 46 on a wide range of mental health outcomes, including psychological distress, 54 depression, 24,55 suicide, 31 and anxiety. 46 These MDRs go beyond physical health outcomes and extend to behavioral outcomes such as vaping, 33 smoking, 35,42,44,56,57 drinking, 34,58 diet, 59 and exercise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Income and Mental Well-Being of Middle-Aged and Older Americans: Immigrants’ Diminished Returns

Assari

2020

Int J Travel Med Glob Health

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Introduction: Although income is among the major social determinants of mental health of middle-aged and older individuals, socially marginalized groups gain less health from their income and other socioeconomic status (SES) resources compared to socially privileged groups. This pattern is called marginalization-related diminished returns (MDRs). Most of the existing knowledge on MDRs, however, has been derived from studies that have defined marginalization based on race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. As a result, very limited information exists on whether similar MDRs can be observed for middle-aged and older immigrants or not. Building on the MDRs framework, this study compared a national sample of immigrants and non-immigrants for the effects of income on the mental well-being of middle-aged and older adults in the United States. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) enrolled 14149 middle-aged and older individuals who were either immigrants (n=1977; 14.0%) or non-immigrants (n=12166; 86.0%). The independent variable (IV) was income that was treated as a continuous variable. The dependent variable was mental well-being, also treated as a continuous variable. Age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, marital status, employment, self-rated health, obesity, and region were confounders. Immigration (nativity status) was the moderator. Logistic regression was applied for data analysis. Results: High income was associated with higher odds of good mental well-being in middle-aged and older adults. However, immigration showed a significant statistical interaction with income, which was suggestive of a smaller protective effect of high income on mental well-being for immigrant than non-immigrant middle-aged and older adults. Conclusion: In line with MDRs, the association between income and mental well-being is weaker for immigrant than non-immigrant middle-aged and older adults. There is a need to help high income immigrants secure health outcomes similar to those of non-immigrants. Such changes may require bold and innovative economic, public, and social policies that help immigrants more effectively translate their income and socioeconomic resources into tangible outcomes such as mental well-being.

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“…For instance, although we know that SES generates less or no mental health gain for racial and ethnic minorities [11,12,13,14] and particularly for African American men [15,16,17], the underlying mechanism for this phenomenon is unknown. High SES may even operate as a risk factor for poor mental health in African Americans [12,15,16,17,18,19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace Racial Composition Explains High Perceived Discrimination of High Socioeconomic Status African American Men

2018

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Background: Sociological and epidemiological literature have both shown that socioeconomic status (SES) protects populations and individuals against health problems. Recent research, however, has shown that African Americans gain less from their SES and African Americans of high SES, particularly males, may be vulnerable to perceived discrimination, as explained by the Minorities’ Diminished Returns theory. One potential mechanism for this phenomenon is that high SES African Americans have a higher tendency to work in predominantly White workplaces, which increases their perceived discrimination. It is, however, unknown if the links between SES, working in predominantly White work groups and perceived discrimination differ for male and female African Americans. Aim: To test the associations between SES, workplace racial composition and perceived discrimination in a nationally representative sample of male and female African American adults. Methods. This study included a total number of 1775 employed African American adults who were either male (n = 676) or female (n = 1099), all enrolled from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). The study measured gender, age, SES (educational attainment and household income), workplace racial composition and perceived discrimination. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied in the overall sample and also by gender. Results: In the pooled sample that included both genders, high education and household income were associated with working in a predominantly White work group, which was in turn associated with more perceived discrimination. We did not find gender differences in the associations between SES, workplace racial composition and perceived discrimination. Conclusion: Although racial composition of workplace may be a mechanism by which high SES increases discriminatory experiences for African Americans, males and females may not differ in this regard. Policies are needed to reduce discrimination in racially diverse workplaces. This is particularly the case for African Americans who work in predominantly White work environments.

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Income and Self-Rated Mental Health: Diminished Returns for High Income Black Americans

Cited by 98 publications

References 94 publications

History of Non-Fatal Physical Assault Is Associated with Premature Mortality for Whites but Not Blacks

History of Non-Fatal Physical Assault Is Associated with Premature Mortality for Whites but Not Blacks

Income and Mental Well-Being of Middle-Aged and Older Americans: Immigrants’ Diminished Returns

Workplace Racial Composition Explains High Perceived Discrimination of High Socioeconomic Status African American Men

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