The Relationship Between Immigration and Depression in South Africa: Evidence from the First South African National Income Dynamics Study

Abstract

Few studies have examined depression among immigrants in post-apartheid South Africa, and factors that strengthen the relationship between immigration and depression. The first wave of the National Income Dynamics Study was used to investigate links between immigration and depression (n=15,205). Depression symptoms were assessed using a 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. Immigrants in South Africa had fewer depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥ 10) than locally-born participants (17.1% vs. 32.4%, F = 13.5, p<0.01). Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analyses found that among immigrant populations, younger age (adjusted OR=1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.05) and black African ethnicity (adjusted OR=3.72, 95% CI = 1.29-10.7) were associated with higher depression. Younger age was associated with lower depression among locally-born study participants (adjusted OR=0.98, 95% CI = 0.97-0.98). The varying relationship between certain demographic factors, depression and the different mental health challenges among these groups requires closer attention.

Dyadic Effects of Fluid Mindset on Psychological Growth in Immigrant Mothers and Their Children: Indirect Effect of Resilience

“…Indeed, immigrants have reported high levels of psychological distress (Wong et al., 2012). Previous immigration studies have largely focused on maladaptive outcomes, such as psychological disorders (Tomita et al., 2014; see also Dimitrova et al., 2016); however, recent research paradigms have shifted from problem—or deficit—focused approaches to strength‐based frameworks (Masten, 2018). Thus, immigration research has begun to focus on positive adaptation outcomes, such as psychological growth (Berger & Weiss, 2009).…”

Differences between Chinese Adolescent Immigrants and Adolescent Non-Immigrants in Hong Kong: Perceived Psychosocial Attributes, School Environment and Characteristics of Hong Kong Adolescents

“…Third, existing studies have primarily focused on mental health outcomes of migration. Some studies explored specific mental health problems in immigrants, such as depression [ 15 , 33 , 34 ], anxiety [ 3 , 14 , 35 ], self-esteem problems [ 4 , 24 , 27 , 36 ] and externalizing problems (e.g., alcohol abuse, delinquency and aggressive behavior [ 16 , 17 , 22 , 24 , 37 , 38 ]). In fact, except for some isolated studies [ 16 , 22 , 28 , 39 , 40 ], few studies have evaluated multiple adolescent behavioral problems of immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents.…”

Depression and Its Screening Programs Among Voluntary African Migrants Within Africa. A Systematic Review

“…Among its risk factors include migration (Flahaux & De Haas 2016;Vroman, Knoetze & Kagee 2011;Tessie 1995). Nonetheless, natives may suffer signs that are more aggressive than migrants are (Tomita et al 2015). This can be explained by prior exposure by natives to risk factors of depression such as the case of apartheid in South Africa.…”

“…This is similar to 's findings that the length of stay determines the mental health status of the migrants. However, first-time migrants with well-established relatives tend to settle faster than those without (Jurado et al 2017;Tomita et al 2015). Age at migration is also a key factor for depression.…”