Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder that has high social and economic costs around the world. Currently, over 45 million people in the United States are immigrants. Immigration can be a source of stress, and therefore examining the difference between rates of depression between U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens could shine a light on any disparity. Methods: Data from 2017-2018 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used to examine this question. After adjusting for selection criteria, 1187 people were included in the final sample. Depression was defined using the Patient Health Questionaire-9. Univariate analysis was used for the dependent variable, the independent variable, and the confounding variables. Bivariate analysis was used to examine the relationship between depression and U.S. citizenship. The Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between depression and the confounding variables. Binary logistic regression will be conducted to assess the association between depression and U.S. citizenship while adjusting for the confounding variables. Results and Discussion: Of those who met the criteria for depression, 61.5% were U.S. citizens, and 38.5% were not U.S. citizens (p=0.573). Non-U.S. citizens were 29% less likely to be depressed (OR: 0.71, CI: 0.37-1.35), however, the correlation was not significant. This contrasts previous research that found a significance between the variables, possibly due to the difference in sample sizes. Future research could examine a larger sample size from multiple years of NHANES data. This data is useful for the understanding of the prevalence of depression between U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens.
Author(s): Rebecca Dun-Roseman, B,A., Andrew Denman, B.A., and Saruna Ghimire, PhD
Advisor(s): Saruna Ghimire, Sociology and Gerontology
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