Religion and Mental Health among Central Asian Muslim Immigrants in Chicago Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Migration creates opportunities but also bring challenges that cause stress and affect mental health of migrants. Stress among Muslim immigrants can be intensified by experiences of discrimination. This study addressed the meaning and role of religion as a mediator of stress and mental health among Central Asian Muslim immigrants. This paper explored whether religious coping worked for recent Muslim immigrants in the US, and how religion buffered migration and discrimination-related stress that negatively affected mental health of Central Asian immigrants. Drawing from different types of ethnographic and biological data, collected in Chicago Metropolitan Area, this study explored culturally embedded stress responses, and tested the religious coping framework upon experiences of a new minority group of Muslim immigrants in the US, expanding our knowledge on factors that inform health outcomes of immigrant population.