The perceived life stressors among elderly Chinese immigrants: are they different from those of other elderly Americans?

This is a descriptive study examining the perceived life stressors among elderly Chinese immigrants and comparing their stressors to those experienced by other elderly Americans. Lazarus and Folkman's stress theory and Roy's adaptation model were used as the theoretical basis for this study. Based on this framework, it was predicted that elderly Chinese immigrants would report more life stressors than elderly Americans, because they experience a changing cultural environment along with the aging process. The sample was a convenience sample of 30 elderly people from two Chinese churches in one northeastern metropolitan city. Participants were asked to describe a stressful event that they had experienced within the past month. Data were collected by a bilingual (Chinese and English) interviewer using open-ended questions. The research design was based on Manfredi and Pickett's (1987) research exploring the stressors among elderly Americans, and those research results provide the comparison data for this study. The findings suggest that the amount and sources of stress reported by elderly Chinese immigrants are different from those reported by other elderly Americans. Additional studies are needed to identify the coping strategies used by elderly Chinese immigrants. These findings have implications for gerontologists, policy makers, community healthcare providers, and the Chinese immigrant population.