Depression-level symptoms among Syrian refugees: findings from a Canadian longitudinal study

Ahmad, Farah; Othman, Nasih; Hynie, Michaela; Bayoumi, Ahmed M.; Oda, Anna; McKenzie, Kwame

doi:10.1080/09638237.2020.1765998

Cited by 33 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The third is religion with Turnbull (2016) suggesting religion protects individuals in the general population from the sometimes deleterious effects of waiting. However, Ahmad et al (2020) find a negative correlation between Muslims and depression symptoms in Syrian refugees resettled in Canada but not Christians or other religions. Elsewhere religion is cited as a protective factor in enabling refugees' every day coping with displacement that can offer some protection from psychological disorders (i.e.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 60%

“…This significant link persists 21 months post-settlement with refugee women experiencing more harm than men regardless of waiting period. Work by Ahmad et al (2020) showed that Syrian resettlement refugees experienced increased depression over time which may have been associated with unemployment and experiences of racism. Although we find an association between being employed and racist attack and emotional health, when we control for these factors the association between waiting time and emotional health remains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Waiting is open-ended and takes place in a context of poor living conditions, the absence of distractions such as work and study, separation from family members and the threat of forced return to places of unsafety (Laban et al, 2015;Rotter, 2016;Refugee Action, 2018). There is evidence that asylum seekers and refugees experience higher levels of PTSD, anxiety and depression than the general population (Laban et al, 2005;Afifi et al, 2019;Ahmad et al, 2020;Blackmore et al, 2020) with associations identified between asylum seekers living in a "chronic state of uncertainty" (Afifi et al, 2019), psychological disorders and somatoform disorders but no evidence around relationships between waiting and physical health. As we note above asylum seekers await a decision on whether they can legitimately remain in the country of refuge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While quantitative studies highlight a relationship between time within the asylum system and psychological health (Laban et al, 2005) they have not explored whether there is an association between waiting times and refugee health post-decision. In Canada Ahmad et al (2020) focus on resettlement refugees who arrive with permanent status and thus are not subject to asylum process uncertainties. They found lower rates of depression among Syrian refugees resettled in Canada compared to Syrian cohorts elsewhere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the general population the burden of depression and anxiety disorders are significantly higher for women than men (Kuehner, 2016;Li et al, 2016). Women refugees are also more likely to experience depression than men (Reesp, 2003;Laban et al, 2008;Ahmad et al, 2020) but also higher levels of physical health problems (Reesp, 2003;Laban et al, 2008). There is clear evidence that they experience different kinds of adversity, with sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) a reality for many women forced migrants (WRC, 2016) which Kuehner (2016) suggests may explain higher rates of depression in women in the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The violence of uncertainty: Empirical evidence on how asylum waiting time undermines refugee health

Phillimore

Cheung

2021

Social Science & Medicine

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The idea of violent uncertainty was first introduced in the New England Journal of Medicine ( 2018) making claims about the deleterious impacts of insecure immigration status on the health of migrants. Policies of uncertainty are said to directly and indirectly create harm by impacting on individual's health via detention and public degradation and undermining healthcare services. We offer original empirical evidence indicating an association with uncertainty, in the form of asylum waiting times, on refugees' self-reported health. We devise four hypotheses that: long waiting time for asylum decisions increases likelihood of self-reported health problems and the effect persists overtime, that female refugees report higher levels of health problems and religion moderates the association between health and uncertainty. We use data from the UK longitudinal Survey of New Refugees wherein all new refugees were sent a baseline survey immediately after receiving refugee status and then follow-up surveys 21 months later. The findings show longer asylum waiting time is associated with poor health. Female refugees were more likely to report poor emotional and physical health. The negative effect of asylum waiting time on emotional health persists 21 months post settlement and is worse for women. The hypothesis about the ameliorating effect of religion is only partially supported. Our findings supports existing theory and qualitative studies on the deleterious effects of using policies of waiting-related uncertainty for managing migration. Given the wide use of such policies in the Global North, our work is suggestive of likely generalisability. Thus, countries with large refugee populations might want to consider our findings when developing asylum policy which minimises impact on refugee health.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The violence of uncertainty: Empirical evidence on how asylum waiting time undermines refugee health

Phillimore

Cheung

2021

Social Science & Medicine

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Trajectories of psychological distress and social integration in newly resettled refugees: findings from the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal study

Nguyen

Slewa‐Younan

Rioseco

2023

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Refugees are at greater risk of mental illness due to stressors encountered post-resettlement. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the within-person effects of these stressors, especially with respect to social integration. This study aims to examine what factors are associated with psychological distress in a longitudinal sample of refugees resettled in Australia. Methods This study used data from three Waves of the Building a New Life in Australia study, collected between 2013 and 2018. The eligible sample included 1881 adult respondents, clustered in 1175 households. We conducted multilevel mixed-effects growth modelling incorporating time-variant and time-invariant covariates with psychological distress, using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). Results Rates of high psychological distress increased across the 5-year follow-up period. Social integration stressors (e.g. discrimination, lower sense of belonging, loneliness, lower English proficiency) were associated with higher levels of psychological distress over time. Refugees reporting loneliness not only had a greater risk of elevated psychological distress at each time point, but the difference in risk increased over each time point. Refugees who were exposed to traumatic events, older, female and of Middle Eastern background were also more likely to report higher levels of psychological distress over time. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of identifying refugees who may encounter difficulties with social integration in the early years of resettlement. Newly arrived refugees may benefit from longer-term resettlement programmes that address post-migratory stressors, particularly with regards to loneliness, to reduce the prevalence of elevated psychological distress during the early years of resettlement.

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Social Determinants of Mental Health Among Karen Refugees from Burma

Kim

Lin

et al. 2021

Community Ment Health J

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Depression-level symptoms among Syrian refugees: findings from a Canadian longitudinal study

Cited by 33 publications

References 38 publications

The violence of uncertainty: Empirical evidence on how asylum waiting time undermines refugee health

The violence of uncertainty: Empirical evidence on how asylum waiting time undermines refugee health

Trajectories of psychological distress and social integration in newly resettled refugees: findings from the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal study

Social Determinants of Mental Health Among Karen Refugees from Burma

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