The current migrant health literature tends to focus on what determines immigrants’ mental health rather than how pathways such as psychosocial resources mediate the relationship between years since migration and mental health. Based on 4,282 foreign-born Canadian immigrant samples, this study includes both psychological distress and positive mental health as mental health measures because immigrants do not necessarily respond to stress by exhibiting distress. The correlation between psychological distress and positive mental health shows that these two measures are interrelated but distinctive concepts. Using piecewise regression models, this study finds that midterm immigrants have the highest levels of psychological distress and interpersonal strain. Guided by the stress process model, this study indicates that interpersonal strain acts as a major pathway to immigrants’ psychological distress but not positive mental health.

当前农民健康文学往往把重点放在什么决定移民的心理健康状况，而不是如何诸如心理社会资源之类的途径介导了移民以来的年数与心理健康之间的关系。基于4,282个外国出生的加拿大移民样本，该研究包括心理困扰和积极的心理健康作为心理健康措施，因为移民不一定会表现出困扰来应对压力。心理困扰与积极的心理健康之间的相关性表明，这两种措施是相互关联的，但概念却截然不同。使用分段回归模型，本研究发现中期移民的心理困扰和人际关系紧张程度最高。在压力过程模型的指导下，这项研究表明人际关系紧张是移民心理困扰的主要途径，而不是积极的心理健康。