Metabolic Risk and Depression among Elderly Mexican Americans: The Roles of Nativity Status of Nativity Status

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between metabolic risk (MR) and depression in a sample of older Mexican Americans and examine whether the association differs by age at migration.Methods: Longitudinal study using data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE) (N=807, mean age = 84.3). The analytical sample was compiled from wave 6 (2007) to wave 7 (2010-2011) of HEPESE. Random-effect logistic regression examined the association between MR and depression and tested the model stratified by nativity status and age at migration.Results: MR was associated with higher odds of depression for US-born Mexican Americans after controlling for potential confounders. Similarly, among Mexican Americans who migrated before age 20, MR was associated with higher odds of depression.Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of age at migration when evaluating the health of foreign-born Mexican Americans from a life-course perspective. Particularly among Mexican Americans who migrated before age 20, those with MR were more vulnerable to depression than their counterparts without MR.Ethn Dis. 2021;31(2):243-252; doi:10.18865/ed.31.2.243