Mental Health, Psychological Distress, and Coping in Australian Cross‐Cultural Prison Populations

Abstract

The rates of mental illness are significantly higher in prison populations compared to the general community; however, little research has examined the rates of mental illness for cross‐cultural groups of prisoners in Australia. This omission is concerning given the increasingly diverse nature of the Australian prison population. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study aimed to identify rates of key mental health factors and associated psychological processes in a cohort of 191 men from culturally and linguistically diverse, Indigenous Australian and English‐speaking backgrounds who were incarcerated at a maximum‐security prison in Victoria, Australia. We also explored differences in both psychological distress levels and predictors of psychological distress. Although no significant mental health differences were identified cross‐culturally, the results revealed that several mental health factors predicted psychological distress for all prisoners, F(11, 147) = 33.23, p < .001, R2 = .71. The experiences of anxiety and sleep disturbance–related symptoms, β = .34; depressive symptoms, β = .19; posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, β = .25; and the use of psychological processes, such as avoidance coping, β = .16; and engagement in cognitive fusion, β = .15, all predicted psychological distress. The use of positive thinking as a coping strategy was found to predict a reduced level of psychological distress for prisoners, β = −.13. The findings indicated that the mental health profiles of cross‐cultural groups of prisoners are similar in nature, suggesting that justice involvement may be a more useful predictor than cultural differences concerning psychological health.

Do Prison Inmates Cope with Psychological Distress Well: A Qualitative Study Among Prison Inmates in Sri Lanka

“…Another study conducted among prison inmates in Victoria, Australia further strengthened the findings of the current study that it shows use of positive thinking as a coping strategy predicted a decrease in psychological distress level (Rose et al, 2020). Few other research as also indicated that positive thinking has helped the individuals to deal with stressful situations to improve the psychological status (Shulman & Cauffman, 2011;Van Harreveld, et al, 2007).…”

Intensification of Type D Personality Traits and Coping Strategies of People Staying in Polish Penitentiary Institutions—Cross-Sectional Study

“…This allows us to assume that people in penitentiary units who experience strong stress feel helpless in the face of their life situation. The feeling of helplessness is a negative phenomenon associated with the occurrence of increased mental tension, which may lead to the occurrence of depressive disorders among prisoners and, consequently, to attempting suicide [ 35 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ].…”

Intensity of perceived stress and control of anger, anxiety and depression of people staying in Polish penitentiary institutions

“…The research indicates that among detainees, stress-related diseases are diagnosed more often than in the general population (Bronson and Berzofsky, 2017; Clarke and Waring, 2012; Houle, 2014; Massoglia and Pridemore, 2015; Howell et al , 2016). Analysis of the available literature has shown that research dealing with the issue of stress and emotions among detainees are carried out with the use of various, often non-standardised or original research tools, which makes reliable comparison of results difficult (Unver et al , 2013; Reta et al , 2020; Chiclana et al , 2019; Constantino et al , 2016; Baidawi, 2016; Rose et al , 2020; van den Berg et al , 2016; Ahmad and Mazlan, 2014; Malik et al , 2019; Joon Jang, 2020). This provided the motivation to explore the above issue using standardised and reliable research tools.…”