Socio-demographic and Health Behavioral Correlates of Depressive Symptoms among Korean Americans

Abstract

This study identified socio-demographic characteristics and their help seeking behaviors of depressive symptoms among adult Korean Americans (KAs). Using survey data from 230 residents of the New York City, Teaneck New Jersey, and Philadelphia areas, simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between depressive symptoms and the covariates. Women were at much lower risk of depressive symptoms than were men, even after adjusting other covariates (OR=0.45, 95% CI=0.21–0.96). Having no health insurance(OR=4.02, 95% CI=1.28–12.61) and having experience in seeking professional help for mental health problem during last year were significantly associated with depressive symptoms (OR=2.96, 95% CI=1.29–6.80). Impact of gender, lack of health insurance coverage, and previous help-seeking behavior may be possible explanations for the KA’s higher prevalence of depression.

Weight Status, Physical Activity, and Depression in Korean Older Adults

“…In this study, we found that underweight individuals had significantly higher risk scores than normal weight individuals ( P = 0.040). The negative impact of being underweight on depression observed in this study is consistent with the previous findings from Korean 11 , 14 and Chinese 30 older population-based studies. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of being underweight on depression by entering the sociodemographic and health behavioral factors as covariates into a multivariate regression model and found that the OR of being underweight for having depression was no longer significant in men, women, or the full sample after controlling for the covariates.…”

Annual review of Asian American Psychology, 2014.

“…Cho, Park, Bernstein, Roh, & Jeon, 2014; Masuda, Mandavia, et al, 2014; Remigio-Baker, Hayes, & Reyes-Salvail, 2014; Tuason et al, 2014; Yeh, Liao, et al, 2014). Depression/anxiety/somatization was studied across different developmental periods of the life course: adolescence to emerging adulthood (Lund et al, 2014; Yeh, Liao, et al, 2014), emerging adulthood to middle adulthood (Masuda, Mandavia, et al, 2014; Tuason et al, 2014), older adulthood (Chao et al, 2014), or all of the above in the same study (S. Cho et al, 2014; Remigio-Baker et al, 2014).…”

“…Depression or depressive symptoms were occasionally studied alongside anxiety and somatization (Masuda, Mandavia, & Tully, 2014; Tuason, Ancheta, & Battie, 2014; Yeh, Liao, et al, 2014). Articles either explored racial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence of depression/anxiety/somatization and identified predictors of this difference (e.g., European Americans vs. Asian Americans, n = 2; Chao et al, 2014; Lund et al, 2014) or focused on exploring the risk and protective factors of depression/anxiety/somatization for a single sample (e.g., pan-Asian Americans from diverse ethnic backgrounds or a single Asian ethnic group, such as Chinese Americans, n = 5; S. Cho, Park, Bernstein, Roh, & Jeon, 2015; Masuda, Mandavia, et al, 2014; Remigio-Baker, Hayes, & Reyes-Salvail, 2014; Tuason et al, 2014; Yeh, Liao, et al, 2014).…”

“…This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,17,18,21,24,25,27,28,29,30,33,34,35,36,37,38,40,41,42,43,45,46,47,48,49,50,52,53,55,56,57,58,59,60,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,…”

Annual Review of Asian American psychology, 2015.

“…1.9% 21, 33, 50, 84, 95, 119, 210, 225, 251, 310, 325 4.4% 5.7% 17) 2, 67, 86, 108, 109, 127, 128, 129, 139, 141, 160, 171, 173, 190, 221, 241, 256 1.5% 14,15,22,38,39,40,46,94,131,151,156,157,174,179,228,255,300,314 16) 35,73,78,103,120,123,178,205,216,219,237,261,267,268,277 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.…”