title: Chinese migrant families in New Zealand: Family functioning and individual well-being

authors: Cleland, Alice Myo Ma Ma Thin

abstract: Migration is a process that affects family functioning and well-being. The purpose of my thesis was to examine the influence of migration on family functioning and individual well-being in Chinese migrant families with adolescents in New Zealand. To achieve this, three studies were conducted. 
Study 1 investigated the level of family functioning and the influence of migration on it. The outcome measure used was parent-adolescent conflict. Nine families (N=21) were intensively interviewed and asked to discuss conflict issues between the parents and adolescents. The study found that, as reported in the mainstream literature, most conflict occurred over normal, everyday issues. Findings of interest were the use of migration-related explanations to account for the occurrence of conflict, reports that conflict issues were different between the countries of origin and settlement, and reports that conflict intensity was greater here than in the country of origin. 
Study 2 expanded on Study 1 by including parent-adolescent relationship and parenting as additional outcome measures of family functioning. The well-being of migrant families was also investigated. Interviews conducted with seven families (N=18) showed that migration can be conceptualised as a process which occurs over three phases: before the migration, on first arrival, and in the current situation. Regarding family functioning across these three phases, participants reported that parent-adolescent relationships were generally positive, that conflict occurred over the regulation of the adolescents' activities and the decision to migrate to New Zealand, and that the parenting style changed to being less strict and authoritative in New Zealand. The findings also highlighted the importance of considering familial influences, in addition to individual and environmental influences, when determining migrant adaptation. A conceptual model of migrant adaptation was developed. 
Study 3 was a quantitative study which examined the role of individual, familial, and environmental influences on family functioning and migrant well-being. A Migration Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) was developed to investigate the role of migration-related variables on these outcome measures. The MEQ was based on the conceptual model of migration adaptation arising from Study 2. Family functioning was measured using the Self-Report Inventory (SFI), and migrant well-being was measured using the General Health Questionnaire-30item version (GHQ-30). 
Questionnaires were completed by 180 participants (93 = parents; 87 =adolescents). The results showed that factors predictive of poor family functioning were differential rates of acculturation, lack of social support, being dissatisfied with life before the migration for adolescents, and being dissatisfied with life after the migration for parents. Factors predictive of poor well-being were lack of social support, feelings of not belonging here, perceptions of being racially discriminated against, and dissatisfaction with one's English ability. Another finding of interest was that 40% of participants were identified as being 'psychologically at-risk'. 
In conclusion, the findings of my thesis highlight that migration is a process which influences family functioning and individual well-being. While some families cope with these changes better than others, the consensus amongst participants was that having adequate social support was crucial to good family functioning and well-being.

text: Chinese migrant families in New Zealand: Family functioning and individual well-being Migration is a process that affects family functioning and well-being. The purpose of my thesis was to examine the influence of migration on family functioning and individual well-being in Chinese migrant families with adolescents in New Zealand. To achieve this, three studies were conducted. 
Study 1 investigated the level of family functioning and the influence of migration on it. The outcome measure used was parent-adolescent conflict. Nine families (N=21) were intensively interviewed and asked to discuss conflict issues between the parents and adolescents. The study found that, as reported in the mainstream literature, most conflict occurred over normal, everyday issues. Findings of interest were the use of migration-related explanations to account for the occurrence of conflict, reports that conflict issues were different between the countries of origin and settlement, and reports that conflict intensity was greater here than in the country of origin. 
Study 2 expanded on Study 1 by including parent-adolescent relationship and parenting as additional outcome measures of family functioning. The well-being of migrant families was also investigated. Interviews conducted with seven families (N=18) showed that migration can be conceptualised as a process which occurs over three phases: before the migration, on first arrival, and in the current situation. Regarding family functioning across these three phases, participants reported that parent-adolescent relationships were generally positive, that conflict occurred over the regulation of the adolescents' activities and the decision to migrate to New Zealand, and that the parenting style changed to being less strict and authoritative in New Zealand. The findings also highlighted the importance of considering familial influences, in addition to individual and environmental influences, when determining migrant adaptation. A conceptual model of migrant adaptation was developed. 
Study 3 was a quantitative study which examined the role of individual, familial, and environmental influences on family functioning and migrant well-being. A Migration Experience Questionnaire (MEQ) was developed to investigate the role of migration-related variables on these outcome measures. The MEQ was based on the conceptual model of migration adaptation arising from Study 2. Family functioning was measured using the Self-Report Inventory (SFI), and migrant well-being was measured using the General Health Questionnaire-30item version (GHQ-30). 
Questionnaires were completed by 180 participants (93 = parents; 87 =adolescents). The results showed that factors predictive of poor family functioning were differential rates of acculturation, lack of social support, being dissatisfied with life before the migration for adolescents, and being dissatisfied with life after the migration for parents. Factors predictive of poor well-being were lack of social support, feelings of not belonging here, perceptions of being racially discriminated against, and dissatisfaction with one's English ability. Another finding of interest was that 40% of participants were identified as being 'psychologically at-risk'. 
In conclusion, the findings of my thesis highlight that migration is a process which influences family functioning and individual well-being. While some families cope with these changes better than others, the consensus amongst participants was that having adequate social support was crucial to good family functioning and well-being.

year: 2004

title: Health promotion opportunities for lesbian, gay and bisexual people: Using data from the New Zealand Health Survey

authors: Adams, Jeffery

subjects: alcohol consumption

abstract: Issue Addressed
Health inequity for sexual minority (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people compared with heterosexual people is well documented globally. However, limited local data have been used to inform health policy and practice. This project analysed data from the New Zealand Health Survey to determine areas of inequity in health behaviours and identify opportunities for health promotion action.

Methods
We used pooled data from six waves of the New Zealand Health Survey (from 2015/2016 to 2020/2021). The sample for analysis comprised 67 426 people aged 15 years and older, including 1224 sexual minority females and 703 sexual minority males. We applied multiple logistic regression to investigate the association between health behaviours and sexual identity.

Results
Sexual minority people were found to have poorer health behaviours in comparison to heterosexual people in relation to alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, physical activity and nutrition (eating fruit and vegetables). For example, compared to heterosexual females, female minorities were more likely to be binge drinkers (OR:1.61; 95% CI:1.60, 1.62), current smokers (OR:1.88; 95% CI:1.86, 1.90), drug users (OR:3.23; 95% CI:3.20, 3.25) as well as being less likely to meet fruit (OR:0.84; 95% CI:0.84, 0.85) and vegetable consumption guidelines (OR:0.94; 95% CI:0.93, 0.94). It shows similar patterns of the associations when compared to heterosexual males with male minorities. In relation to physical activity, female minority people were more likely to meet the guidelines compared to heterosexual females.

Conclusion
Our results from the New Zealand Survey data are broadly consistent with the current international literature demonstrating health inequity for sexual minorities compared with heterosexual people in relation to alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, physical activity and eating fruit and vegetables.

So What?
Opportunities exist in New Zealand to improve the health behaviours of sexual minorities, and health promotion agencies should ensure their interventions address the needs of these groups. Health promotion agencies have an ethical and moral responsibility to address these areas of inequity.

text: Health promotion opportunities for lesbian, gay and bisexual people: Using data from the New Zealand Health Survey Issue Addressed
Health inequity for sexual minority (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people compared with heterosexual people is well documented globally. However, limited local data have been used to inform health policy and practice. This project analysed data from the New Zealand Health Survey to determine areas of inequity in health behaviours and identify opportunities for health promotion action.

Methods
We used pooled data from six waves of the New Zealand Health Survey (from 2015/2016 to 2020/2021). The sample for analysis comprised 67 426 people aged 15 years and older, including 1224 sexual minority females and 703 sexual minority males. We applied multiple logistic regression to investigate the association between health behaviours and sexual identity.

Results
Sexual minority people were found to have poorer health behaviours in comparison to heterosexual people in relation to alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, physical activity and nutrition (eating fruit and vegetables). For example, compared to heterosexual females, female minorities were more likely to be binge drinkers (OR:1.61; 95% CI:1.60, 1.62), current smokers (OR:1.88; 95% CI:1.86, 1.90), drug users (OR:3.23; 95% CI:3.20, 3.25) as well as being less likely to meet fruit (OR:0.84; 95% CI:0.84, 0.85) and vegetable consumption guidelines (OR:0.94; 95% CI:0.93, 0.94). It shows similar patterns of the associations when compared to heterosexual males with male minorities. In relation to physical activity, female minority people were more likely to meet the guidelines compared to heterosexual females.

Conclusion
Our results from the New Zealand Survey data are broadly consistent with the current international literature demonstrating health inequity for sexual minorities compared with heterosexual people in relation to alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, physical activity and eating fruit and vegetables.

So What?
Opportunities exist in New Zealand to improve the health behaviours of sexual minorities, and health promotion agencies should ensure their interventions address the needs of these groups. Health promotion agencies have an ethical and moral responsibility to address these areas of inequity.

year: 2025-07-15

title: Māori loanwords: a corpus of New Zealand English tweets

authors: Trye, David

abstract: Māori loanwords are widely used in New Zealand English for various social functions by New Zealanders within and outside of the Māori community. Motivated by the lack of linguistic resources for studying how Māori loanwords are used in social media, we present a new corpus of New Zealand English tweets. We collected tweets containing selected Māori words that are likely to be known by New Zealanders who do not speak Māori. Since over 30% of these words turned out to be irrelevant (e.g., mana is a popular gaming term, Moana is a character from a Disney movie), we manually annotated a sample of our tweets into relevant and irrelevant categories. This data was used to train machine learning models to automatically filter out irrelevant tweets.

text: Māori loanwords: a corpus of New Zealand English tweets Māori loanwords are widely used in New Zealand English for various social functions by New Zealanders within and outside of the Māori community. Motivated by the lack of linguistic resources for studying how Māori loanwords are used in social media, we present a new corpus of New Zealand English tweets. We collected tweets containing selected Māori words that are likely to be known by New Zealanders who do not speak Māori. Since over 30% of these words turned out to be irrelevant (e.g., mana is a popular gaming term, Moana is a character from a Disney movie), we manually annotated a sample of our tweets into relevant and irrelevant categories. This data was used to train machine learning models to automatically filter out irrelevant tweets.

year: 2019