Rennie Lee

The University of Queensland's institutional repository, UQ eSpace, aims to create global visibility and accessibility of UQ’s scholarly research.

The University of Queensland's institutional repository, UQ eSpace, aims to create global visibility and accessibility of UQ’s scholarly research.

This study examines how arrival cohort and duration of time in Australia affect the long-term mental health trajectories of Asian immigrants relative to native-born individuals in Australia. We also examine how these relationships differ by gender. Using nationally representative panel data from The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey for 2002–2018, we find limited evidence that Asian immigrants experience declining mental health over time in Australia. Rather, we find that arrival cohort is an important predictor of long-term mental health, specifically for Asian immigrant women and recent cohorts of immigrants. By tracking mental health trajectories over time in Australia, we find variation between Asian immigrants and native-born individuals and by gender. We find that the majority of Asian immigrants in Australia report increases in their mental health over time in Australia. We also find within- and between-gender differences in mental health trajectories. Our study illustrates the importance of longitudinal data and reference categories for understanding immigrants’ health in their host countries. The findings have implications for immigration policy and its role in shaping immigrant composition and immigrants’ mental health over time in the host country.

In this chapter, we describe the life course approach and explain key concepts and principles. We also review variations in life course theory across disciplines including differences in terminology and understanding of core elements of life course theory. We outline why the life course approach is useful for examining intergenerational transmission of inequality and why a focus on family background is important. We review research on intergenerational inequality, family dynamics and variations across social groups and conclude by briefly outlining new directions in life course theory toward a more integrated theoretical framework.

In this chapter we provide a brief summary of the key themes of the book, identify emerging directions and challenges in life course theory and data designs and highlight some policy challenges for researchers going forward.

In this chapter we present the research questions motivating the book and outline key themes and issues guiding the chapters. We provide a broad overview of the Australian social, political and economic context to give readers an understanding of some of the key features of Australian society. We outline the structure of the book and present a brief synopsis of each chapter.