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Perceived mental health and well-being of immigrants Natalia Lapshina , Ph.D. Candidate

Perceived mental health and well-being of immigrants Natalia Lapshina , Ph.D. Candidate March 13, 2014. Department of Psychology. March 13, 2014 Today’s Agenda. Factors that influence mental health of immigrants “Healthy immigrant effect” Present study

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Perceived mental health and well-being of immigrants Natalia Lapshina , Ph.D. Candidate

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  1. Perceived mental health and well-being of immigrants Natalia Lapshina, Ph.D. Candidate March 13, 2014 Department of Psychology

  2. March 13, 2014 Today’s Agenda • Factors that influence mental health of immigrants • “Healthy immigrant effect” • Present study • Implications and recommendations for settlement agencies and employers Presentation Title Here

  3. Objectives To examine the effect of immigrant status on: mental health life satisfaction stress sense of belonging social support Whether this effect depends on the area of residence Whether mental health depends on visible minority status

  4. Importance of Immigrant Status Stressors in immigrants: Pre-migration & Post-migration “Healthy immigrant” effect: recent immigrants - in as good or better general health than non-immigrants, established immigrants - decline in health towards Canadian health norms with time since immigration (McDonald & Kennedy, 2004).

  5. Importance of Area of Residence & Visible Minority Status Area of Residence Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver (Chui, Tran, & Maheux, 2007) Reasons for settlementin TMV areas: social support networks, job prospects (Toronto), language (Montréal) climate (Vancouver) (Tremblay, Bryan, Perez, Ardern, & Katzmarzyk, 2006) Protective effect of neighborhoods with higher immigrant concentrations - (Menezes,Georgiades & Boyle, 2011) Visible Minority Status Lower likelihood of depression with increasing percentage of immigrants in the region among visible minority participants but not among Whites (Stafford, Newbold, & Ross, 2010)

  6. Data Canadian Community Health Survey 2007-2008 Annual Component (CCHS) Data at the sub-provincial levels of geography health region or combined health regions 131,061 respondents

  7. Outcome Measures & Techniques of Analysis • Self-perceived mental health 1- good to excellent 0- poor to fair • Satisfaction with life in general 1 – satisfied to very satisfied 0- nether satisfied or dissatisfied to very dissatisfied • Self-Perceived Life & Work Stress: 1- quite a bit to extremely stressful, 0- not at all to a bit • Sense of belonging to local community: 1- strong 0- weak • Perceived Social Support • Based 20 questions • Overall total score, 0-100 Analysis • Hierarchical logistic regression • ANOVA

  8. Measure of Predictor Variables Predictor Control Adjusted for demographics and SES (age, sex, highest level of education, income, marital status, employment status) • Immigrant status • non-immigrant • recent immigrant • established immigrant • Area of residence • Toronto • Montreal • Vancouver • Rest of Canada • Visible minority status • Visible minority • White

  9. Perceived Mental Health by Immigrant Status Note. * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

  10. Perceived Mental Health by Area of Residence Note. * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

  11. Perceived Mental Healthand visible minority status Note. * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < 001

  12. Perceived Life Satisfaction Note. * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

  13. Perceived Life Stress

  14. Work stress

  15. Sense of Belonging

  16. Perceived Social Support * * * * * *

  17. Summary of results Recent immigrants who choose to reside in Toronto reported less favourable outcomes in terms of perceptions of stress, life satisfaction, and sense of belonging The outcomes are more favourable in Montreal and other places in Canada. These results can be taken into account by employers and settlement agencies. 

  18. Practical implications Importance of non-medical factors contributing to mental health: • Immigrant status • Area of residence • Perceived life stress (visible minorities, women, seniors) • Perceived social support • Cultural background • Ethnic identity

  19. Recommendations • For settlement and service agencies: • Planning support services for recent immigrants to reduce their chances of developing mental health problems later on. • Encourage awareness, acknowledgement of emotional and mental problems, and getting professional help. • For employers: • Provide on-site support in terms of recognition of mental health problems and directing employees to services available on-site and in their community.

  20. Acknowledgements Thank you! Zenaida R. Ravanera, Ph.D. Victoria M. Esses, Ph.D. Email: nlapshin@uwo.ca

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