EXAMINING THE REGIONAL VARIATION IN POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH AMONG CANADIAN IMMIGRANTS

Abstract

The healthy immigrant effect (HIE), the stress effect, and the stress-buffering effect of social support on immigrants’ mental health are well documented in existing studies. However, most of them have relied on national-level analyses and mental illness outcomes, with limited attention to whether these aspects of immigrants’ mental health vary across regions of residence and regional socioeconomic conditions. Using data from the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey and applying ordinary least squares regression analyses, this dissertation investigates whether the HIE for positive mental Health (PMH), the effect of stress on PMH, and the stress-buffering effect of social support on PMH among Canadian immigrants vary across Canadian regions and regional socioeconomic conditions. The findings reveal substantial variation in HIE for PMH across Canada. Although recent immigrants generally report a greater PMH advantage than Canadian-born individuals and long-residing immigrants, this advantage varies across regions and is weaker in regions with higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. However, evidence on variation in HIE for PMH by regional immigrant concentration is limited, as the interaction effect of regional immigrant concentration and recent immigrants is not statistically significant. Life stress has a significant negative effect on PMH, though the magnitude varies across regions. Higher regional GDP per capita and immigrant concentration moderate the negative effects of life stress on PMH, but immigrant concentration's moderating influence is weaker than that of GDP per capita. The results also show that social support buffers the negative impact of life stress on PMH; however, this buffering effect varies regionally, being weaker in regions with higher GDP per capita and greater immigrant concentration, though the effect is less pronounced for immigrant concentration than for GDP. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that the region of residence and regional socioeconomic contexts shape the manifestation of HIE, the effects of life stress, and the protective effect of social support on PMH among Canadian immigrants. By extending research on HIE and PMH and expanding the application of the stress process framework to regional contexts, this study advances the literature on immigrant mental health and integration by moving beyond the conventional emphasis on mental illness and individual-level explanations while highlighting the role of region of residence and regional socioeconomic conditions in shaping immigrants’ mental health and well-being