Negative Social Interactions at the Intersection of Gender, Race and Immigration Status in Canada.

This article examines the experience of negative social interactions (NSIs)—defined as upsetting interpersonal encounters—and how these experiences vary according to the intersecting social identities of gender, race, and immigration status in Canada. Using data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health (CCHS-MH) with 21,932 participants, the study found that women reported more NSIs than men, immigrant men were less likely to experience NSIs regardless of race, and racialised Canadian-born women reported higher NSIs than racialised immigrant women, while immigration status did not affect white women’s experiences. The findings highlight the importance of applying an intersectional framework in social work practice to better understand and address the complex influences of social identities on interpersonal stress and mental health. Limitations include the cross-sectional design, reliance on a single self-reported NSI measure, and data collected in 2012, which may affect generalizability to current contexts.