REFUGEES TIME PERSPECTIVE AND MENTAL-HEALTH

Objective: The authors' goal was to investigate factors protective of the mental health oi refugees, with a particular focus on rime splitti ng and suppression of the east. Method: Structured interviews covering premigration and postmigration stresses, personal and social resource s, and mental health were given to 1,348 Southeast Asian refugees rese ttled In Vancouver, British Columbia, and to a comparison sample of 31 9 residents of Vancouver. Both groups of subjects also performed a tas k designed to measure orientation toward past, present, and future. Re sults: Compared with resident Canadians, refugees were more likely to exhibit an atomistic time perspective in which past, present, and futu re are split. Temporal atomism and avoidance of nostalgia were associa ted with a lower risk of depression than were other time perspectives. Conclusions: Under conditions of extreme adversity, time splitting an d suppression of the past may be adaptive strategies, mitigating the r isk of depression.