Pre-migration and post-migration factors associated with mental health in humanitarian migrants in Australia and the moderation effect of post-migration stressors: findings from the first wave data of the BNLA cohort study
Abstract
Background The process of becoming a humanitarian migrant is potentially damaging to mental health. We examined the association between pre-migration and post-migration potentially traumatic events and stressors and mental health, and assessed the moderating effect of post-migration stressors in humanitarian migrants in Australia. Methods In this study, we used the first wave of data between 2013 and 2014 from the Building a New Life in Australia survey. The survey included 2399 migrants who had arrived in Australia holding a permanent humanitarian visa 3-6 months preceding the survey, with 77% and 23% of participants being granted visas through offshore and onshore humanitarian programmes, respectively. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was measured with the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder 8 items (PTSD-8) and severe mental illness was measured with the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6). Pre-migration potentially traumatic events and post-migration stressors related to asylum process and resettlement were measured with a self-reported questionnaire. Findings Of the 2399 participants, 762 (31%; 95% CI 29·4-33·2) had PTSD and 394 (16%; 95% CI 14·2-17·2) had severe mental illness. The mean number of pre-migration potentially traumatic events was 2·1 (SD 1·4). 64%, 59%, 49%, and 18% of participants reported poor social integration, economic problems, worrying about family or friends overseas, and loneliness as post-migration stressors. Pre-migration pote…
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Previous reviews and studies have found postmigration stressors to be of substantial importance to the development of mental illness.
“Previous reviews and studies (Li et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2017; Hynie 2018) have found postmigration stressors to be of substantial importance to the development of mental illness.”
From Refugees versus persons family reunified to a refugee: A comparison of sociodemographic factors, trauma history, baseline psychopathology and treatment effectiveness (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2017
The high prevalence of postmigration stressors in the family reunified population supports the importance of postmigration factors.
“These results emphasize the importance of equal treatment possibilities for the family reunified population, and the high prevalence of postmigration stressors in the family reunified population support the importance of postmigration factors, as reported in previous articles(Hynie, 2018; Chen et al., 2017; Van Wyk et al., 2012).”
From Refugees versus persons family reunified to a refugee: A comparison of sociodemographic factors, trauma history, baseline psychopathology and treatment effectiveness (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2017
The importance of postmigration stressors has been emphasized in previous papers and the present results add to that perspective.
“The importance of postmigration stressors has been emphasized in previous papers (Hynie, 2018; , Chen et al., 2017; , Van Wyk et al., 2012) and the present results add to that perspective.”
From Refugees versus persons family reunified to a refugee: A comparison of sociodemographic factors, trauma history, baseline psychopathology and treatment effectiveness (2023) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2017
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References 24 · Cited by 382
- Authors
- Chen, W., Hall, B. J., Ling, L., & Renzaho, A. M.
- Affiliations
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Wen
- Venue
- The Lancet Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-03
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 218-229
- ISSN
- 2215-0366 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2585063996
- Cited by
- 382
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 86 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 8
- FWCI
- 50.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Lancet Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- China Medical Board
- Department of Social Services, Australian Government
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Identity, and Health
- Keywords
- humanitarian migrants, mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe mental illness, pre-migration trauma, post-migration stressors, social integration, loneliness, asylum procedure, moderating effect, refugee resettlement in Australia, psychological distress screening, Kessler K6, family separation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Australia, Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Refugees, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, Transients and Migrants
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