Ethnic differences in the marital status and psychological distress relationship

This paper examines the relationship between marital status, as a measure of social support, and psychological distress among three ethnic minorities (Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Native Hawaiians) and Caucasians in Hawai'i. A secondary analysis is conducted on survey data collected from a statewide sample of adults. The analyses show that the relationship between marital status and distress conforms to expectations among Caucasians: married adults have a lower level of distress than the non-married. However, the marital status and distress relationship is not consistent across ethnic minorities. We discuss the implications of these findings to the study of social support and distress among ethnic minorities.