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The impact of post‐migration stressors on refugees’ emotional distress and health: A longitudinal analysis
Author(s) -
James Poppy,
Iyer Aarti,
Webb Thomas L.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2589
Subject(s) - refugee , stressor , psychology , mental health , distress , emotional distress , feeling , longitudinal study , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , clinical psychology , longitudinal data , psychological distress , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , medicine , anxiety , demography , political science , sociology , paleontology , pathology , law , biology
Refugees often experience poor physical and mental health outcomes following resettlement. These outcomes have been linked to the conditions that are experienced by refugees in the post‐migration context, but little is known about the mechanisms by which these conditions influence health. We therefore conducted secondary analyses of the Survey of New Refugees, a large longitudinal study commissioned by the UK Home Office with data collected at four time points spanning 21 months. Refugees’ experience of emotional distress such as feeling stressed, worried, and depressed fully mediated the relationship between post‐migration stressors and longitudinal general health. There was no evidence that perceived social support influenced this relationship. These findings suggest that emotional distress contributes to poor health outcomes among refugees and thus that interventions might target emotional distress.