Common Mental health issues among non-refugee migrants in Australia: a scoping review.

IF 3.6 2区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Pub Date : 2025-02-19 DOI:10.1007/s00127-025-02850-2

Pritimoy Das, Colette Browning, Muhammad Aziz Rahman

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: Mental health issues were the fourth leading cause of disease burden in Australia in 2022. About 30% of Australia's population are migrants, whose mental health is poorly understood. We aimed to report the prevalence and risk factors of common mental health issues among non-refugee migrants in Australia.

Methods: We reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2024 on mental health issues amongst migrants in Australia following the Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.

Results: Out of 3122 titles retrieved on mental health issues among migrants in Australia, 30 papers were selected. Migrants from Greece reported the highest prevalence (43.1%) of anxiety disorders than Australian-born (15.8%). The highest prevalence of psychological distress and depression were found amongst migrants from Lebanon (33%) and China (19%), respectively. Migrants from North-Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Greece, and Europe experienced a higher prevalence of psychological distress (18.2-21.9%) than Australian-born (12.4%). Prevalence of depression was higher among migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds (19.7% vs. 10%), Sub-Saharan Africa (18.8% vs. 9.3%), Italy (18% vs. 10%), Greece (17.1% vs. 4.1%), and China (10% vs. 3%), compared to Australian-born people, respectively. The way that risk factors were reported differed across studies. Anxiety disorders were associated with higher stress (p < 0.05), unemployment (OR 1.8, 95%CI:1.4-2.4), female gender (OR 2.13, 95%CI:1.64-2.76) unmarried status (p < 0.01) and poor physical health status (OR 7.35, 95%CI:3.86-14.01). Psychological distress was associated with being a single woman (OR 6.54, 95%CI:1.18-35.3), holding a temporary visa (p < 0.01), being economically inactive (p < 0.01) and having rare contact with friends (AOR 2.083, p < 0.001). Depression was associated with migrants who were never married (OR 4.11, 95%CI:1.59-10.65), younger or older (p < 0.001), female (OR 2.3, 95%CI:1.9-2.7), from non-English speaking countries (OR 2.41, 95%CI:1.14-5.10) and reported poor physical health (OR 3.55, 95%CI:1.60-7.88).

Conclusion: The high prevalence of mental health issues among non-refugee migrants necessitates revisiting strategies to tailor interventions appropriate for their mental health needs.

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来源期刊

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

8.50

自引率

2.30%

发文量

184

审稿时长

3-6 weeks

期刊介绍： Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology is intended to provide a medium for the prompt publication of scientific contributions concerned with all aspects of the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders - social, biological and genetic. In addition, the journal has a particular focus on the effects of social conditions upon behaviour and the relationship between psychiatric disorders and the social environment. Contributions may be of a clinical nature provided they relate to social issues, or they may deal with specialised investigations in the fields of social psychology, sociology, anthropology, epidemiology, health service research, health economies or public mental health. We will publish papers on cross-cultural and trans-cultural themes. We do not publish case studies or small case series. While we will publish studies of reliability and validity of new instruments of interest to our readership, we will not publish articles reporting on the performance of established instruments in translation. Both original work and review articles may be submitted.