TY - JOUR
T1 - The mental health effects of visa insecurity for refugees and people seeking asylum
T2 - a latent class analysis
AU - Newnham, Elizabeth A.
AU - Pearman, April
AU - Olinga-Shannon, Stephanie
AU - Nickerson, Angela
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Objectives: Current regional conflicts are creating a surge in forced migration, and heightened visa restrictions are increasingly being applied. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between visa insecurity and psychological outcomes within a large clinical sample of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. Methods: The sample comprised 781 clients (53.9% male, 16–93 years) attending a clinic for trauma survivors. Country of birth was most frequently identified as Afghanistan (18.1%), Iraq (15.3%) and Iran (15.1%). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist was administered at admission. Results: Latent class analyses identified four groups varying in severity of symptoms, namely very high (16.1%), high (38.1%), moderate (31.5%), and low (14.3%). People with insecure visa status were at least five times more likely to report high (OR = 5.86, p < 0.001) or very high (OR = 5.27, p < 0.01) depression and anxiety symptoms than those with permanent residency. Women were almost twice as likely to report high (OR = 1.96 p < 0.01) or very high (OR = 1.96, p < 0.05) symptoms. Conclusions: The findings suggest that temporary visas play a significant role in psychological distress and that timely immigration processing has important implications for health outcomes.
AB - Objectives: Current regional conflicts are creating a surge in forced migration, and heightened visa restrictions are increasingly being applied. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between visa insecurity and psychological outcomes within a large clinical sample of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. Methods: The sample comprised 781 clients (53.9% male, 16–93 years) attending a clinic for trauma survivors. Country of birth was most frequently identified as Afghanistan (18.1%), Iraq (15.3%) and Iran (15.1%). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist was administered at admission. Results: Latent class analyses identified four groups varying in severity of symptoms, namely very high (16.1%), high (38.1%), moderate (31.5%), and low (14.3%). People with insecure visa status were at least five times more likely to report high (OR = 5.86, p < 0.001) or very high (OR = 5.27, p < 0.01) depression and anxiety symptoms than those with permanent residency. Women were almost twice as likely to report high (OR = 1.96 p < 0.01) or very high (OR = 1.96, p < 0.05) symptoms. Conclusions: The findings suggest that temporary visas play a significant role in psychological distress and that timely immigration processing has important implications for health outcomes.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Asylum
KW - Depression
KW - Gender
KW - Migration
KW - Refugee
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066467747&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00038-019-01249-6
DO - 10.1007/s00038-019-01249-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 31139848
AN - SCOPUS:85066467747
VL - 64
SP - 763
EP - 772
JO - Sozial-und Praventivmedizin
JF - Sozial-und Praventivmedizin
SN - 0303-8408
IS - 5
ER -