Heterogeneity in the Association of Citizenship Status on Self-Rated Health Among Asians in California

Citizenship is considered an egalitarian legal identity but may function differently among minorities because of racial/ethnic stratification and historical context. Using Asians, I examine whether the association between citizenship and self-rated health differs by ethnicity. I examine the moderating effect of Asian ethnic group (Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and Other Asian) on citizenship and self-rated health using the 2012-2016 California Health Interview Survey (n = 11,084). Models account for demographics, socioeconomic status, healthcare, and English proficiency. Adjusting for demographics, naturalized citizens and non-citizens were statistically significantly more likely to report fair/poor health compared to U.S.-born citizens. Naturalized and non-citizen Vietnamese reported statistically significantly poorer health to all U.S.-born groups. These trends largely disappear when controlling for all covariates. Citizenship status can be useful in considering structural barriers for immigrants. Future work should interrogate the non-citizen category and why trends are seen among Vietnamese, but not others.