Our study investigated the association between perceived discrimination and outcomes related to health and well‐being for Pacific adults in New Zealand. We examined personal and group discrimination from the 2013 wave of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (n = 429 women and 196 men). Personal discrimination was associated with poorer health and well‐being outcomes (higher psychological distress and lower self‐esteem, subjective evaluation of health, satisfaction with life and personal well‐being). Group discrimination, in contrast, was associated with poorer well‐being but not health outcomes (lower subjective evaluation of health and personal well‐being). These findings corroborate previous research and highlight the corrosive effect of discrimination towards health and well‐being among Pacific communities in New Zealand.

Pasifika mental health continues to be a growing concern in New Zealand. This article reviews and presents online available research concerning the mental health of Pasifika in New Zealand. A comprehensive online literature search was conducted. In total, 967 online articles were identified, and 58 met the criteria to be included in the final review. The review identified overarching research themes related to Pacific mental health in New Zealand, specifically regarding mental health prevalence, mental health services, mental health perceptions, mental health prevention or intervention, and suicide. Further, this review explores the role that education, culturally appropriate services, and engaging community activities can play in preventing further mental health disparity among Pasifika in New Zealand.

Introduction: Our study investigated the development of social support experienced by Pacific men and women across the adult lifespan in New Zealand (18 to 65 years of age).    Methods: We examined differences in social support using data from the first six annual waves of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 501 women and 238 men) using an age-based latent growth model. Results and Discussion: Mean levels of social support decreased as Pacific peoples aged. More specifically, Pacific men demonstrated a significant decrease in social support and older Pacific men demonstrated the lowest levels of support of all Pacific peoples. In comparison, Pacific women maintained higher levels of social support compared to Pacific men, with social support remaining relatively stable across the lifespan of Pacific women. Conclusion: Our research explores the importance of social support and its link to health and wellbeing among Pacific communities in New Zealand. This is important because we need to understand the factors that could buffer outcomes of low social support such as mental illness and possibly suicide among Pacific peoples.

Introduction: Pacific health models that centre Pacific values, can serve as a tool to address Pacific disparities in healthcare. In this study, we broadly draw upon the health concepts of these models to determine how Pacific values are translate across Pacific health and wellbeing. Methods: Using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, we identified proxy indicators of common Pacific values. With these proxy indicators we developed a LP Latent Profile Analysis A to uncover subgroups of Pacific peoples based on their orientation towards each proxy indicator and their association with psychological distress. Findings: We identified four subgroups of Pacific peoples: (1) 65% of Pacific peoples identified strongly with Pacific values with low associated psychological distress (2) 18% of Pacific peoples identified moderately with Pacific values with medium associated psychological distress (3) 5% of Pacific peoples identified less with Pacific values with low associated psychological distress (4) 12% of Pacific peoples identified ambivalent with Pacific values with high associated psychological distress. Conclusions: These results suggest that Pacific values and the utility of Pacific health models are an appropriate way of framing health and wellbeing for a vast majority of our Pacific population. However, we also need to recognise the incredible diversity among our Pacific community and be understanding and accommodating of the diverse ways that Pacific peoples can express what they consider valuable.