Ethnic enclaves, social capital, and psychological well-being of immigrants: the case of Chinese older immigrants in Chicago

Abstract

Objectives: Using a large sample of Chinese older immigrants in Chicago, this study asked two questions: (1) Is living in Chinatown associated with better psychological well-being? (2) What is the role of social capital in such an association?

Methods: Data were derived from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (N = 3,105). Depression and quality of life (QoL) were compared between those who lived in Chinatown and those who didn’t. Negative binomial regressions (for depression) and logistic regressions (for QoL) were performed to examine the associations between Chinatown residence, social capital, and the two outcomes.

Results: Net of social capital and the control variables, living in Chinatown was marginally associated with fewer depressive symptoms (β= −.137, p = .057), but a significantly lower likelihood of reporting good QoL (OR = .797, CI: .661–.962). Although various forms of social capital were projective of positive psychological well-being, given the overall low social capital of the Chinatown residents, they heightened the mental health risks of this population.

Conclusion: The neighborhood context may function to reproduce social disadvantage among aging immigrant populations. The findings point to the importance of intervention at the mezzo level to improve the psychological wellbeing of this population.

Keywords:

• Minority aging
• living environments
• social networks
• social support
• social capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 According to Illinois law, SSAs are local tax districts that fund enhanced services and programs within the area.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (grant number R21AG055804); and the Rutgers University Asian Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research under National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (grant number P30-AG059304).