The High Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms and Its Correlates With Older Hmong Refugees in the United States

Abstract

Objective: We estimate depressive symptoms in a sample of older Hmong refugees in the United States, and investigate factors shaping risk of depression in this population. Method: Data were collected in California and Minnesota ( N = 127). The study sample included Hmong immigrants aged 55 and over. The measure of depression used is the Hopkins Symptom Checklist–10 (HSCL-10) inventory. Linear regression models were used to identify significant correlates of depressive symptoms. Results: More than 72% of the participants indicated being symptomatic of depression, as reflected by having a HSCL-10 score of 1.85 or higher. Self-reported health was a risk factor for depression. Protective factors from depression were larger household size and older age of arrival into the United States. Discussion: This study updated knowledge about the mental health status of Hmong refugees, who are now at later life. Our findings suggest that depression may be a lifelong experience in this high risk population.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Self-Rated Health and Sense of Control for Older Adults Receiving Publicly Funded Home- and Community-Based Services

“…Whether these characteristics contributed to a frequent experience of negative mood and in turn resulted in low SRH and sense of control among Asian older adults needs further investigation. Nonetheless, our findings are consistent with other studies, which document the higher prevalence of depressive symptoms and mental distress among immigrant and refugee community-dwelling Asian older adults, including Hmong older adults, coupled with low health literacy and low use of mental health services (Khuu et al, 2018; Sorkin et al, 2011; Yang & Mutchler, 2019).…”

Identifying the critical time points for mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in high-income countries

“…a high ‘ethnic density’ may be less likely to use mental health services and hence less likely to present severe mental health needs (Finnvold and Ugreninov, 2018 ). In accordance with this, a larger household size was found to be a protective factor for mental health (Yang and Mutchler, 2019 ).…”

Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Characterize Health and Lifestyle Behaviors of Montagnards, a Refugee-Origin Asian-American Subgroup

“…However, few studies examine disaggregated Asian American groups, and report a wide variation in psychological outcomes. For example, severe psychological distress ranged from 2 to 14% among Vietnamese origin Americans in the studies reviewed by Yang and Mutchler [ 30 ]. Their study found an HSCL-10 score mean among older Hmong participants of 2.23 which is substantially more than the score of 1.85 that indicates clinical depression [ 30 ].…”

“…For example, severe psychological distress ranged from 2 to 14% among Vietnamese origin Americans in the studies reviewed by Yang and Mutchler [ 30 ]. Their study found an HSCL-10 score mean among older Hmong participants of 2.23 which is substantially more than the score of 1.85 that indicates clinical depression [ 30 ]. Vonnahme et al (2014) found that 21% of Bhutanese refugee participants reported a score of 1.75 or greater out of 4 on the depression and anxiety related questions of the HSCL-25 measure, which indicated a positive finding for significant depressive symptoms [ 31 ].…”