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The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress and Postmigration Mental Health in Iraqi Refugee Women Resettled in San Diego, California

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Abstract

Due to the lack of research on the adverse impact of acculturative stress on the mental health, the current study examined the associations between acculturative stress and post-migration mental health outcomes among 219 Iraqi refugee women resettled in San Diego, California. Mental illness, trauma history, and acculturative stress were measured and descriptive statistical analyses, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between acculturative stress, depression, and anxiety among the refugee women.

About half of the participants were categorized as having anxiety (45.6%) and depression (55.3%). The multivariate regression analysis found that the odds of a mental health outcome of depression and anxiety in relation to acculturative stress, increases by a factor of 1.056 and 1.076 respectively, for every point increase on the acculturative stress scale.

The study’s findings reflect a linear association of acculturative stress with depression and anxiety among Iraqi refugee mothers resettled in San Diego. The mental well-being of refugees does not always improve nor does their trauma disappear by resettling in a new country. Policy makers should consider extending the evaluation, follow-up, and support of Iraqi refugee mental health long beyond the current 90 post arrival policy.

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Acknowledgements

Data collection for this work was supported by a grant from the UC San Diego Community Pediatrics pilot funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Sandra Yun

  2. Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA

    Sawssan R. Ahmed

  3. California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA

    Alexander O. Hauson

  4. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA

    Wael K. Al-Delaimy

  5. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Alexander O. Hauson

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  1. Sandra Yun
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Yun, S., Ahmed, S.R., Hauson, A.O. et al. The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress and Postmigration Mental Health in Iraqi Refugee Women Resettled in San Diego, California. Community Ment Health J 57, 1111–1120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00739-9

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