EFFECTS OF A NATURAL DISASTER ON IMMIGRANTS AND HOST POPULATION

The psychosocial effects of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake on 250 immig rants from non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB) were compared with a matched sample of 250 Australian-born subjects. The NESB subjects ha d higher levels of both general (General Health Questionnaire-12) and event-related (Impact of Event Scale) psychological morbidity. Further more, NESB females had the highest levels of distress, particularly th ose who were older on arrival in Australia and those who experienced h igh levels of disruption. The results suggest that NESB immigrants, pa rticularly women, appear to be more at risk for developing psychologic al distress following a natural disaster. However, level of exposure a nd an avoidance coping style contributed more substantially to psychol ogical distress than ethnicity.