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Immigration and Stress

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Handbuch Stress und Kultur

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Abstract

There were approximately 258 million international migrants worldwide in 2017. There has been rapid growth in international migration, increasing from 173 million in 2000 and 220 million in 2010. Being an immigrant can exacerbate many common life stressors, such as changes in health or family status, by severely limiting one’s access to health care or the ability to travel to one’s home country. In addition, immigration has an attendant host of unique stressors, such as learning a new language or crossing an international border illegally. Most international immigrants are motivated by a desire for economic betterment. In 2016, migrants from developing countries sent home an estimated U.S. $413 billion in remittances. Consequently, immigration affects not just the immigrant and the host country, but also has a major impact on the economy of their country of origin.

This chapter explores why immigration, even under the best circumstances is a very stressful life event. Two models of adjustment to life (acculturation) in host countries and a review of the relevant literature concerning immigration and its impact on emotional health are presented. The chapter continues with a review of the literature regarding refugees, those who immigrate under the worst possible circumstances. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of research considerations when working with immigrants. In this chapter, immigrant/immigration refers to anyone who has moved from their home country to live in another country for an extended period. In the past, migrant/migration was used to describe either immigrants who move for economic betterment or to refer the internal movement of people within a given region. However, increasingly the literature has used these terms interchangeably with those of immigrant and immigration. This chapter follows this current usage. Finally, refugees are those immigrants who are forced to move from their home countries to avoid threats of violence, disease, starvation, natural disasters or political oppression.

The views and opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, USA

    Donald E. Eggerth & Michael A. Flynn

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  1. Donald E. Eggerth
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  2. Michael A. Flynn
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Correspondence to Donald E. Eggerth .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Berlin School of Economics and Law, Berlin, Deutschland

    Tobias Ringeisen

  2. Wirtschaftspsychologie, Hochschule Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Deutschland

    Petia Genkova

  3. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

    Frederick T. L. Leong

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Eggerth, D.E., Flynn, M.A. (2021). Immigration and Stress. In: Ringeisen, T., Genkova, P., Leong, F.T.L. (eds) Handbuch Stress und Kultur. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27789-5_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27789-5_36

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