Immigration to the USA and risk for mood and anxiety disorders: variation by origin and age at immigration

Risk for mood and anxiety disorders associated with US-nativity may vary across immigrant groups. Using data from the National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), we examined the association of lifetime risk for mood and anxiety disorders with US-nativity and age at immigration across seven subgroups of the US population defined by country or region of ancestral origin: Mexico, Puerto-Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Africa and the Caribbean. Discrete time survival models were used to compare lifetime risk between the US-born, immigrants who arrived in the USA prior to the age of 13 years and immigrants who arrived in the USA at the age of 13 years or older. The association of risk for mood and anxiety disorders with US-nativity varies significantly across ancestral origin groups (p