Intercultural Metamorphoses: The Impact of Immigration on the Mental Health of Latin American University Immigrants

Abstract

In contemporary educational scenario, marked by globalization and the valuing of academic education, immigrants leave their place of origin seeking better educational opportunities. When moving from their home countries, these immigrants will have to deal with the distance from the cultural and social references that guided their daily life and with the cultural and educational difference of the new context, which in turn, can generate a state of psychic vulnerability and suffering. Faced with this problem, this research aimed to understand the impacts of international migration on the mental health of undergraduate students at the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA). To this end, we sought to identify the pre and post-migratory risk factors for students' mental health, post-migration psychological symptoms, and pre- and post-migratory protective factors. We conducted a qualitative investigation, with a descriptive, exploratory, and transversal character. For data collection, we used an intercultural sociodemographic form and semi-structured interviews. We systematized the results using the content analysis technique. Participants pointed out the difficulties they found, but immigration/academic mobility was also seen as the possibility to continue a life project.