The Mental Health of Refugee Children in Canada

This paper reviews the literature on sources of stress, and the personal and social resources refugee youth use to cope with adversity. Preliminary findings from the Clarke Institute/University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry Southeast Asian (SEA) Refugee Youth Project, a study of the mental health and adaptation of SEA youth to Canada, are used to supplement findings from the literature. The review highlights research needs as well as possibilities for programs that could help promote the successful adaptation of refugee youth in Canada.Cet article passe en revue la documentation décrivant les tensions vécues par les jeunes réfugiés, et les ressources individuelles et sociales dont ils disposent pour faire face à l'adversité. Nous complétons les données provenant de la documentation déjà disponible à l'aide d'informations préliminaires tirées d'une étude sur la santé mentale et l'adaptation de jeunes du Sud-Est asiatique à l'environnement canadien, menée conjointement par l'Institut Clarke et le Département de Psychiatrie de l'Université de Toronto (Southeast Asian Refugee Youth Project). L'article met en relief le besoin pour des recherches plus approfondies et explore les possibilités de mise sur pied de programmes qui pourraient aider à faire la promotion d'une intégration réussie des jeunes réfugiés au Canada

Predictors of emotional problems and physical aggression among children of Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese and Filipino immigrants to Canada

Background and study aims: Data from the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS), a national study of immigrant children and youth in Canada, are used to examine the mental health salience of putatively universal determinants, as well as of immigration-specific factors. Universal factors (UF) include age, gender, family and neighbourhood characteristics. Migration-specific (MS) factors include ethnic background, acculturative stress, prejudice, and the impact of region of resettlement within Canada. Methods: In a sample of children from Hong Kong, the Philippines and Mainland China, the study examined the determinants of emotional problems (EP), and physical aggression (PA). A two-step regression analysis entered UF on step 1, and MS variables on step 2. Results: Universal factors accounted for 12.1% of EP variance. Addition of MS variables increased explained variance to 15.6%. Significant UF predictors: parental depression, family dysfunction, and parent\u27s education. Significant MS variables: country of origin, region of resettlement, resettlement stress, prejudice, and limited linguistic fluency. UF accounted for 6.3% of variance in PA scores. Adding migration-specific variables increased variance explained to 9.1%. UF: age, gender, parent\u27s depression, family dysfunction. MS: country of origin, region of resettlement, resettlement stress, and parent\u27s perception of prejudice. Conclusions: Net of the effect of factors affecting the mental health of most, if not all children, migration-specific variables contribute to understanding immigrant children\u27s mental health

Language acquisition, unemployment and depressive disorder among Southeast Asian refugees: a 10-year study

The current study examines the risk-inducing effects of unemployment and the protective effects of language facility on the mental health of Southeast Asian refugees resettling in Canada. Rates of depression and of unemployment declined dramatically during the first decade after arrival. Although language fluency also improved during this period, approximately 8% of the sample spoke no English even after 10 years in the country. Initial depression was a strong predictor of subsequent depression. For males, job experience in Canada was the strongest predictor of subsequent employment whereas, for women, depression proved an important predictor of employability. For men in particular, unemployment was a potent risk factor for depression. During the initial period of resettlement, English-speaking ability had no effect on depression or on employment. However, by the end of the first decade in Canada, English language fluency was a significant predictor of depression and employment, particularly among refugee women and among people who did not become engaged in the labor market during the earliest years of resettlement. Study results demonstrate that the mental health salience of risk and protective factors changes according to the phase of resettlement.Language ability Unemployment Depressive disorder Refugee resettlement Canada

Gender Differences in Language Acquisition and Employment Consequences among Southeast Asian Refugees in Canada

When they arrived in Canada, female Southeast Asian refugees were far less likely than males to speak English. The male linguistic advantage was still in evidence a decade later. Women had fewer opportunities than men to learn English during the post-migration period. Ironically, however, women benefited even more than their male counterparts from opportunities such as English as a second language (ESL) classes. English-language ability improved the likelihood of staying in the labour market. This effect was even stronger for women than for men. Resettlement policies must ensure unbiased opportunity to acquire the language of the receiving society.

Ethnic identity, resettlement stress and depressive affect among Southeast Asian refugees in Canada

Does commitment to an ethnic identity enhance or jeopardize psychological well-being? Using data from a study of Southeast Asian "Boat People", this study examined the mental health effects of ethnic identification as the former refugees confronted common resettlement stressors in Canada--unemployment, discrimination and lack of fluency in the dominant society language. The study team administered a questionnaire to 647 respondents covering ethnic identification, demographic and employment information, language fluency, experiences with discrimination, and depressive affect. Context helped determine the relationship between ethnic identification and depressive affect. When the Southeast Asians encountered racial discrimination or unemployment, ethnic identity attachment amplified the risk of depressive affect. By contrast, a strongly held ethnic identity provided a psychological advantage for individuals experiencing difficulties with the dominant language.Identity Depression Discrimination Multiculturalism Unemployment Language

Paved with Good Intentions: Canada's Refugee Destining Policy and Paths of Secondary Migration

This article describes the results of a qualitative investigation completed for Citizenship and Immigration Canada into reasons for secondary migration of government-assisted refugees (GAR s) in Ontario. Over 100 officials, settlement counsellors, and GARs were interviewed about the migration process, beginning with overseas destining through arrival in Canada to the decision to relocate to Onta rio. The study revealed contradictions in destining policy and practice. The findings suggest the import ance of ensuring that refugees are able to make informed choices about the communities to which they are sent, and that they have meaningful social support in those receiving communities. This research on immigrant mobili ty has policy implications for the current discussions about geographic dispersal of immigrants and settlem ent outcomes.

Human-initiated disaster, social disorganization and post-traumatic stress disorder above Nigeria's oil basins

Survivors of human-initiated disaster are at high risk for mental disorder, most notably post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies of PTSD have tended to focus on soldiers returning home after combat or on refugees living in resettlement countries under conditions of relative safety. However, most survivors of human-initiated disasters continue to live in or near the places where they initially experienced trauma. Insufficient attention has been paid to social disorganization in situations of continuing unrest and to its role in creating or stabilizing the symptoms of PTSD. The current study took place in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the scene of long-standing violence and human rights abuse that reached its apogee in 1995. The investigation, which took place in 2002, focused on two villages, one that was heavily exposed to the conflict (A, the affected village), the other relatively spared (NA, not affected). Probability samples of 45 adult residents from A and 55 from NA were interviewed with a schedule that contained the PTSD module from the WHO Diagnostic Interview Schedule. The schedule also contained a measure of exposure to the violence and abuses during the height of the conflict, as well as measures of structural and social capital that are components of community resilience. These included economic security, a sense of moral order, a sense of safety and perceived social support. The six month period prevalence of PTSD was 60 percent in A, and 14.5 percent in NA. Degree of exposure to stress as well as compromised sense of moral order, not feeling safe, and perceived lack of social support were independent predictors of PTSD. In places like the Niger Delta, where people do not physically escape from past trauma, sociocultural disintegration may interfere with communal functioning, thereby eroding community capacity to promote self-healing.Nigeria Disaster Social disorganization Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Violence Human rights abuse Social capital Resilience