This paper considers two pertinent strands in the contemporary immigrant mental health literature: 1) the distinction made between stressors that are endemic to most immigrant experiences vs. those migration stressors that precipitate trauma per se; and 2) clinical guidelines that continue to refine the assessment of immigrants' presenting mental health problems, given the provision of services in institutions that are foreign to both the language and idioms of distress of the populations being served. Case vignettes highlight the research findings and practice recommendations.

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Long-term mental health sequelae of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster have been documented for exposed populations who remained in the former Soviet Union (FSU) (Havenaar et al., 1997), and in a cohort migrated to Israel (Cwikel et al., 1997). This paper reports on Chernobyl disaster sequelae in émigrés (n = 321) to the United States. Demographic characteristics, migration factors, and self-reported physical health were considered. Both geographical proximity to the 1986 disaster, and perception of radiation risk stood as long-term indicators of current psychological distress. Proximity was related to poor self-perceived physical health, as well as current symptoms of depression (p<.05), anxiety (p<.01), and Chernobyl-related trauma distress (p<.001) on standardized measures. Environmental contamination as a reason for migration was also associated with greater mental health symptomatology.