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Predictors of the integration of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Canada: pre-migration adversity, mental health, personal attributes, and post-migration experience.
- Source :
- International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care; 2015, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p29-44, 16p
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Purpose - Refugees integrate less successfully than other immigrants. Pre-migration stress, mental disorder and lack of human capital are the most popular explanations, but these propositions have received little empirical testing. The current study of Sri Lankan Tamils in Toronto, Canada, examines the respective contributions of pre-migration adversity, human capital, mental health and social resources in predicting integration. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - Participants are a probability sample of 1,603 Sri Lankan Tamils living in Toronto, Canada. The team, with a community advisory council, developed structured interviews containing information about pre- and post-migration stressors, coping strategies, and family, community, and institutional support. The questionnaire included the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview module for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Interviews were translated, back-translated and administered by bilingual interviewers. Findings - Two dimensions of integration emerged from a factor analysis of integration-related items: economic and psychosocial. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that PTSD militated against refugee economic integration, whereas pre-migration adversity (but not PTSD) compromised psychosocial integration. On both measures, increasing length of residence in Canada, and gender (male) were predictors of good integration, whereas age at arrival had an inverse relationship with integration. Religiosity had a positive effect on psychosocial integration buta negative effect on economic. Favourable perceptions of the health care system predicted economic integration and non-family support predicted psychosocial integration. Originality/value - Results underline the importance of studying integration as a multifaceted phenomenon, help explain why refugees integrate less successfully than other immigrants, and highlight the importance of including mental health and mental health-related issues in integration discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- DIAGNOSIS of post-traumatic stress disorder
ACCULTURATION
ADAPTABILITY (Personality)
AGE distribution
EMPLOYMENT
ENGLISH as a foreign language
FACTOR analysis
HEALTH services accessibility
MENTAL health
PERSONALITY
REFUGEES
RELIGION
STATISTICAL sampling
SEX distribution
PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
TIME
MULTIPLE regression analysis
SOCIAL support
PREDICTIVE validity
CROSS-sectional method
RETROSPECTIVE studies
STATISTICAL models
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17479894
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 101527257
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-02-2014-0008