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Coping with a New Health Culture: Acculturation and Online Health Information Seeking Among Chinese Immigrants in the United States

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Abstract

As a culturally diverse country, the U.S. hosts over 39 million immigrants who may experience various cultural and linguistic obstacles to receiving quality health care. Considering online sources an important alternative for immigrants to access health information, this study investigates how Chinese immigrants in the U.S. seek health information online. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese immigrants who currently live in the U.S. to understand how acculturation strategies they use to adapt to the host society influence their Internet-based health information seeking behaviors. Our findings revealed that the language and web sources immigrants choose to use can be predicted by the acculturation strategies they utilize to cope with the new culture. This study serves as a timely and imperative call for further consideration of the role that acculturation plays in determining how immigrants seek health information and utilize the healthcare services of their host society.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advertising and Public Relations, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151 ST., ACII-328, North Miami, FL, 33181, USA

    Weirui Wang

  2. Department of Communication, North Dakota State University, Dept #2310, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND, 58108-6050, USA

    Nan Yu

Authors
  1. Weirui Wang
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  2. Nan Yu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weirui Wang.

Appendix: Key measures used in the study

Appendix: Key measures used in the study

Acculturation (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)

  1. 1.

    I write better in English than in Chinese.

  2. 2.

    Most of the music I listen to is Chinese.

  3. 3.

    I tell jokes both in English and in Chinese.

  4. 4.

    Generally, I find it difficult to socialize with anybody, Chinese or American.

  5. 5.

    When I am in my apartment/house, I typically speak English.

  6. 6.

    My closest friends are Chinese.

  7. 7.

    I think as well in English as I do in Chinese.

  8. 8.

    I sometimes feel that neither Americans nor Chinese like me.

  9. 9.

    If I were asked to write poetry, I would prefer to write it in English.

  10. 10.

    I prefer going to school gatherings where most of the people are Chinese.

  11. 11.

    I have both American and Chinese friends.

  12. 12.

    There are times when I think no one understands me.

  13. 13.

    I get along better with Americans than Chinese.

  14. 14.

    I feel that Chinese treat me as an equal more so than Americans do.

  15. 15.

    I feel that both Chinese and Americans value me.

  16. 16.

    I sometimes find it hard to communicate with people.

  17. 17.

    I feel that Americans understand me better than Chinese do.

  18. 18.

    I would prefer to go out on a date with a Chinese than with an American.

  19. 19.

    I feel very comfortable around both Americans and Chinese.

  20. 20.

    I sometimes find it hard to make friends.

  21. 21.

    I find it easier to communicate my feelings to Americans than I do with Chinese.

  22. 22.

    I feel more relaxed when I am with a Chinese than when I am with an American.

  23. 23.

    Sometimes I feel that Chinese and Americans do not accept me.

  24. 24.

    I feel more comfortable socializing with Americans than I do with Chinese.

  25. 25.

    Chinese should not date non-Chinese.

  26. 26.

    Sometimes I find it hard to trust both Americans and Chinese.

  27. 27.

    Most of my friends at work/school are Americans.

  28. 28.

    I find that both Chinese and Americans often have difficulty understanding me.

  29. 29.

    I find that I do not feel comfortable when I am with other people.

Subscales: Assimilation: 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 24, 27; Separation: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 25; Integration: 3, 7, 11, 15, 19; Marginalization: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 23, 26, 28, 29.

Frequency of using health specific websites in online health information seeking (1 = Never, 5 = Always)

  1. 1.

    WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/).

  2. 2.

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/).

  3. 3.

    LIVESTRONG (http://www.livestrong.com).

  4. 4.

    39健康网(http://www.39.net).

  5. 5.

    寻医问药网(http://www.xywy.com).

  6. 6.

    有问必答健康网(http://www.120ask.com).

Subscales: U.S. health websites: 1, 2, 3; Chinese health websites: 4, 5, 6.

Frequency of using general websites in online health information seeking (1 = Never, 5 = Always)

  1. 1.

    Google.com

  2. 2.

    Yahoo.com

  3. 3.

    Sina.com

  4. 4.

    Sohu.com

  5. 5.

    Baidu.com

  6. 6.

    QQ.com

  7. 7.

    Facebook.com

  8. 8.

    Twitter.com

  9. 9.

    Wikipedia.com

  10. 10.

    WindowLive.com

  11. 11.

    Weibo.com

  12. 12.

    Bing.com

  13. 13.

    WordPress.com

Subscales: U.S. general websites: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13; Chinese general websites: 3, 4, 5, 6, 11.

Language preference for online health information seeking (1 = Never, 5 = Always)

  1. 1.

    When you search information about a disease online, how often do you search in Chinese?

  2. 2.

    When you search information about a disease online, how often do you search in English?

Health Literacy (0 = don’t know the term, 1 = know the term)

(1) Menopause, (2) Antibiotics, (3) Jaundice, (4) Rectal, (5) Anemia, (6) Heart Disease, (7) Cerebrovascular Accident, (8) Stroke, (9) Malignant Neoplasms, (10) Cancer, (11) Diabetes, (12) Arthritis, (13) Chronic lower respiratory disease, (14) Alzheimer, (15) HIV/AIDS, (16) Malaria, (17) Tuberculosis, (18) Hepatitis, (19) Pneumonia.

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Wang, W., Yu, N. Coping with a New Health Culture: Acculturation and Online Health Information Seeking Among Chinese Immigrants in the United States. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 1427–1435 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0106-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0106-8

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