Persistent psychological distress in resettled refugee women-at-risk at one-year follow-up: Contributions of trauma, post-migration problems, loss, and trust.

The mental health of women has been largely neglected in the refugee literature, notwithstanding the specific gender-related issues that confront women seeking asylum. Furthermore, a specific category of women, deemed to be women-at-risk, face particular challenges in their journey and resettlement process. This longitudinal study investigated psychological distress in refugee women-at-risk one year after resettlement in Australia.

Recently resettled refugee women-at-risk in Australia evidence high levels of psychiatric symptoms: individual, trauma and post-migration factors predict outcomes.

Background: Despite increasing numbers of refugee women-at-risk being resettled and their potential vulnerability, there exists no empirical research into the psychiatric health of this unique subgroup with which to guide policy and practice. This research aimed to investigate psychiatric symptom status of a sample of refugee women-at-risk recently resettled in Australia, as well as factors contributing to symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, and somatization. The level of psychiatric symptomatology is compared to reference groups of women from Sudan and Burma, who entered Australia under the Humanitarian Entry Programme, and who did not meet criteria as women-at-risk.

Mental health of newly arrived Burmese refugees in Australia: contributions of pre-migration and post-migration experience.

Objective: This study documents the mental health status of people from Burmese refugee backgrounds recently arrived in Australia, then examines the contributions of gender, pre-migration and post-migration factors in predicting mental health.

Method: Structured interviews, including a demographic questionnaire, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, the Post-migration Living Difficulties Checklist and Hopkins Symptom Checklist assessed pre-migration trauma, post-migration living difficulties, depression, anxiety, somatization and traumatization symptoms in a sample of 70 adults across five Burmese ethnic groups.

Results: Substantial proportions of participants reported psychological distress in symptomatic ranges including: post-traumatic stress disorder (9%), anxiety (20%) and depression (36%), as well as significant symptoms of somatization (37%).