Employment frustration among Asian American immigrants: Physical and mental health consequences of job denial in the U.S. labor force

OBJECTIVE: This study examined associations between employment frustration and both self-rated physical and self-rated mental health among Asian American immigrants. METHODS: Cross-sectional quantitative analysis was conducted utilizing data from 1,181 Asian immigrants participating in the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). Employment frustration was measured by self-report of having difficulty finding the work one wants because of being of Asian descent. Self-rated physical health and self-rated mental health were each assessed with a global one-item measure with responses ranging from poor to excellent. Control variables included gender, age, ethnicity, education, occupation, income, whether immigrated for employment, years in the U.S., English proficiency, and a general measure for everyday discrimination. RESULTS: Ordered logistic regression revealed that employment frustration was negatively associated with self-rated physical health. This relationship, however, was no longer significant in multivariate models including English proficiency. The negative association between employment frustration and self-rated mental health persisted even when including all control variables. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that Asian immigrants in the U.S. who experience employment frustration report lower levels of both physical and mental health. However, English proficiency may attenuate the impact of employment frustration at least for physical health.