RELATIONSHIP OF MIGRANT STATUS (REFUGEE OR IMMIGRANT) TO MENTAL-HEALTH

This study investigated and compared mental health levels among refuge es and immigrants living in New Zealand. One hundred and twenty-nine I ndochinese refugees, 57 Pacific Island immigrants and 63 British immig rants to New Zealand were surveyed. A questionnaire and the Hopkins Sy mptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) in English and in three Indochinese trans lations, were administered face-to-face. The hypothesis that migrant s tatus (being a refugee or immigrant) affects mental health and that re fugees experience more emotional distress than immigrants was only sup ported by the comparison with British immigrants. Both Indochinese ref ugees and Pacific Island immigrants experienced relatively low levels of mental health. However, the incidence of clinical depression and cl inical total emotional distress tended to be higher among Indochinese refugees than in either immigrant group. In contrast clinical anxiety occurred most often among Pacific Islanders.