Mental health and quality of life among asylum seekers and refugees living in refugee housing facilities in Sweden

Leiler, Anna; Bjärtå, Anna; Ekdahl, Johanna; Wasteson, Elisabet

doi:10.1007/s00127-018-1651-6

Cited by 111 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Looking beyond these legal aspects, we find that living in refugee rather than in private accommodation is associated with greater distress and reduced life satisfaction. Although self-selection might play an important role here, it seems plausible that residing in refugee housing facilities, which often means living in crowded quarters with limited privacy, restricted autonomy, and isolation from the local community, in fact causes or exacerbates health issues, as has been previously examined in detail [54]. Residing in refugee housing facilities may also come with safety concerns, for example in light of the frequency of attacks on refugee accommodation in many host countries [55].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Walther

Fuchs

Schupp

et al. 2020

J Immigrant Minority Health

112

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Refugees are at an increased risk of mental health problems and low subjective well-being. Living circumstances in the host country are thought to play a vital role in shaping these health outcomes, which, in turn, are prerequisites for successful integration. Using data from a representative survey of 4325 adult refugees who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016, we investigated how different living conditions, especially those subject to integration policies, are associated with psychological distress and life satisfaction using linear regression models. Our findings show that an uncertain legal status, separation from family, and living in refugee housing facilities are related to higher levels of distress and decreased life satisfaction. Being employed, contact to members of the host society, and better host country language skills, by contrast, are related to reduced distress and higher levels of life satisfaction. These associations should inform decision making in a highly contested policy area.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Walther

Fuchs

Schupp

et al. 2020

J Immigrant Minority Health

112

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“…Similarly, perceived discrimination not only affects mental health negatively [ 12 ], but may also decrease social engagement [ 21 , 39 ]. Additionally, the experience of social exclusion and isolation related to asylum seekers being confined in housing facilities and lacking citizenship can be detrimental, not only to mental health [ 10 ], but also decrease the perceived levels of social support. As has been suggested [ 40 ], this implies that social support as a coping resource is both socially patterned and a potentially mitigating factor for the harmful indirect effect of stressors [ 21 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, the asylum seeking process in itself has been shown to be detrimental to applicants’ mental health in Europe and globally [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], by triggering, sustaining or even worsening existing mental health problems [ 7 , 8 ]. This relationship remains even after controlling for pre-migratory trauma predictors [ 9 ] and the levels of mental health problems are higher compared to refugees with formal refugee status [ 10 , 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Social and Financial Hardship, Mental Health Problems and the Role of Social Support in Asylum Seekers Using Structural Equation Modelling

Sengoelge

Solberg

Tatarko

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Asylum seekers are exposed to a range of social and financial difficulties suggested to adversely impact mental health. Uprooted social networks and living conditions during the asylum seeking process potentially predispose this population to low access to social support. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between social and financial hardship and mental health problems, and assess the potential mediating role of social support among asylum seekers. Cross sectional survey data from a cohort of asylum seekers in Sweden (N = 455) were subjected to structural equation modelling for examining hypothesized pathways between social and financial hardship, common mental health problems (CMHPs) and social support. Fit indices showed adequate to excellent fit of the examined models with CMHPs as the outcome (all CFI ≥ 0.951, RMSEA < 0.05, SRMR < 0.056). CMHPs were positively regressed on social and financial hardship (B = 0.786, S = 0.102, p < 0.001) and negatively regressed on social support (B = −0.103, SE = 0.032, p = 0.001). Social support mediated the association between social and financial hardship and CMHPs (effect estimate = 0.075, 95% CI = 0.032–0.136). The results point to the importance of social and living conditions of asylum seekers and indicate that social support is both socially patterned and may act as a mitigating resource to inform interventions and policies.

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“…This scale has been used with a number of refugee groups to index depression (e.g. Comtesse & Rosner, 2019;Leiler, Bjarta, Ekdahl, & Wasteson, 2019;Wulfes, Del Pozo, Buhr-Riehm, Heinrichs, & Kroger, 2019). Internal consistency for this scale in this study was α = 0.93.…”

Section: Depressionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The association between visa insecurity and mental health, disability and social engagement in refugees living in Australia

Nickerson

Byrow

O’Donnell

et al. 2019

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: The vast majority of the world's refugees and people seeking asylum live in a state of sustained displacement. Little is known, however, about the mental health impact of prolonged insecurity. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between insecure visa status and mental health, suicidality, disability and social engagement in a sample of refugees and asylum-seekers living in Australia Method: Participants were 1,085 refugees with secure (i.e. permanent residency or Australian citizenship, n = 826, 76.1%) and insecure (i.e. asylum-seeker claim, bridging visa, temporary visa, n = 259, 23.9%) visa status who had arrived in Australia since January 2011, and were from Arabic, Farsi, Tamil or English-speaking backgrounds. Participants completed an online survey assessing pre-and post-migration experiences, mental health, disability and social engagement. Results: Results indicated that, after controlling for background factors, refugees with insecure visas had significantly greater PTSD symptoms, depression symptoms, thoughts of being better off dead and suicidal intent compared to those with secure visas. There were no group differences in disability. Refugees with insecure visas received support from significantly more groups in the Australian community than those with secure visas. Further, refugees with insecure visa status who had low group membership showed greater depression symptoms and suicidal intent than those with secure visa status who had low group membership. Conclusion: Findings highlight the negative mental health consequences of living in a state of protracted uncertainty for refugees and people seeking asylum, and the key role of social engagement in influencing mental health amongst insecure visa holders. Results also underscore the importance of designing and implementing policies and services that facilitate improved mental health for those with visa insecurity. La asociación entre la inseguridad de la visa y la salud mental, la discapacidad y la participación social en los refugiados que viven en Australia Antecedentes: la mayoría de los refugiados del mundo y las personas que solicitan asilo viven en un estado de desplazamiento sostenido. Sin embargo, se conoce muy poco sobre el impacto en la salud mental de la inseguridad prolongada. Objetivo: este estudio investiga la asociación entre el estatus inseguro de la visa y la salud mental, la suicidalidad, la discapacidad y la participación social en una gran muestra de refugiados y solicitantes de asilo que viven en Australia. Metodología: Los participantes fueron 1.085 refugiados. Un grupo tenía un estatus seguro de la visa (como por ejemplo residencia permanente o ciudadanía australiana n=826, 76.1%) y otro grupo tenía un estatus inseguro de su visa (como por ejemplo solicitantes de asilo, visa puente 1 , visas temporales, n = 259, 23,9%). Los sujetos llegaron a Australia desde Enero de 2011, y eran de origen árabe, farsi, tamil o angloparlante. Los participantes completaron un cuestionario online que evaluaba las...

show abstract

Mental health and quality of life among asylum seekers and refugees living in refugee housing facilities in Sweden

Cited by 111 publications

References 40 publications

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Exploring Social and Financial Hardship, Mental Health Problems and the Role of Social Support in Asylum Seekers Using Structural Equation Modelling

The association between visa insecurity and mental health, disability and social engagement in refugees living in Australia

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