Immigrant mental well-being and Immigrant parent-child relationship:
* Mirsky, J., Slonim-Nevo, V., & Rubinstein, L. (2007). Psychological Wellness and Distress among Recent Immigrants: A Four-year Longitudinal Study in Israel and Germany. International Migration, 45(1), 151–175. doi:10.1111/j.1468- 2435.2007.00399.x
The study involves families (parents and adolescents) from the former Soviet Union who immigrated to Israel and Germany. The respondents were assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) at three time intervals: toward the end of the first year after their migration, in their second, and again in their fourth year after immigration. According to the results, the adolescents who immigrated to Israel and Germany presented good psychological well-being during their first year in the new country
* Turin TC, Abedin T, Chowdhury N, et al. Community engagement with immigrant communities involving health and wellness research: a systematic review protocol towards developing a taxonomy of community engagement definitions, frameworks, and methods BMJ Open 2020;10:e035649. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035649
The importance of community engagement has been established globally in health and wellness research. However, a certain degree of ambiguity remains regarding the meaning of community engagement, which term has been used for various purposes and implemented in various forms. The study aimed to explore the different definitions of community engagement, discuss the various objectives that have been proposed and uncover the diverse ways this concept has been implemented among researchers working for the betterment of the health and wellness of immigrant communities in host countries
* Palinkas, L. A., Pickwell, S. M., Brandstein, K., Clark, T. J., Hill, L. L., Moser, R. J., & Osman, A. (2003). Journal of Immigrant Health, 5(1), 19–28. doi:10.1023/a:1021048112073
Refugees experience a threefold challenge to their health and well-being: 1) psychiatric disorders precipitated by the refugee experience, 2) infectious and parasitic diseases endemic to countries of origin, and 3) chronic diseases endemic to host countries. This paper documents the “journey to wellness” in which the refugees face these challenges in stages and the array of health and social service agencies committed to providing refugee assistance. Using the experience of a consortium of agencies in San Diego as an example, we examine the interaction between these challenges and the mobilisation of organisations to develop a program of health promotion and disease prevention for Somali and other East African refugees. This mobilisation involves a series of steps designed to facilitate refugee confidence, comprehension, and compliance with prevention efforts through community-provider partnerships and negotiation between refugee and organisational explanatory models of disease causation and prevention
* Goopy, S., Suva, C., Hayden, K. A., Silversides, H., & Palova, K. (2020). Activities and programmes that support the emotional wellness and well-being of refugees, immigrants and other newcomers within settlement agencies: a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open, 10(9), e033377. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033377
Obstacles to successful settlement—social isolation, language hardship, issues with employment, housing questions, transportation, barriers to health, education and government service access—all potentially play a role in emerging physical and mental health problems. The objective of this scoping review is to map the available evidence in order to provide an overview of the services and resources offered to refugees, immigrants and other newcomers by settlement agencies to support emotional wellness and well-being
* Blount, A. J., & Acquaye, H. E. (2018). Promoting Wellness in Refugee Populations. Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(4), 461–472. doi:10.1002/jcad.12227
Refugee populations experience risk factors that may influence their wellness. As the number of refugees continues to rise, professional counsellors, counsellor educators, and counsellors-in-training need to be aware of techniques for supporting wellness in this population. This article addresses risk factors to refugee wellness within the indivisible self-model of wellness (Myers & Sweeney, 2004). It highlights current wellness trends and the importance of a prevention-based treatment paradigm for helpers working with refugee populations.
* Wycoff, S., Tinagon, R., & Dickson, S. (2011). Therapeutic Practice With Cambodian Refugee Families: Trauma, Adaptation, Resiliency, and Wellness. The Family Journal, 19(2), 165–173. doi:10.1177/106648071039713
Since the events of September 11, 2001, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants World Refugee Survey has reported that globally, refugees are moving about the world in unprecedented numbers. Cambodians are one community of refugees growing part of the Asian American population; they have been spread out across the country in primarily poor urban areas and have few support services available to them, remaining a reasonably invisible group in the United States. In this article, the authors examine Cambodian pre- and postimmigration history, culture, and refugee experience. Because family is the centre of life for Cambodians, the authors stress that healing must occur within its context. The authors present portions of two actual case studies involving multigenerational Cambodian refugee families as an illustrative guide.
* Ross Perfetti, A., Abboud, S., Behme, M., & Barg, F. K. (2019). Understanding wellness and barriers to care among Iraqi refugee women in the United States. Health & Social Care in the Community. doi:10.1111/hsc.12810
Iraqi refugees in the US experience a high prevalence of non‐communicable diseases. This article explores how cultural and structural realities intersect to influence the utilisation of preventative healthcare and cancer screening to understand health disparities in this population. We conducted three focus group discussions with 14 Iraqi refugee women living in a northeastern US city in 2016 and analysed the qualitative data using thematic analysis. Eight themes emerged from our data: (a) ‘prevention is better than cure:’ Iraqi refugee women maintain wellness; (b) physical and mental health are interrelated in causing and curing ill‐health; (c) Iraqi refugee women embrace both biomedical and other healing practices; (d) God contributes to healing; (e) cancer is caused by dangerous environments. Three of the eight themes related to barriers to care; (f) multi-level problems within hospitals and clinics prevent the delivery of care; (g) financial barriers prevent access to care and good health; (h) competing priorities are a barrier to good health. We argue that understanding refugee health requires critical analysis of both culturally informed understandings of health and illness and the structural aspects of health disparities that result in limited access to life opportunities, racism and inequality for refugees and their communities.
* Antony-Newman, M. (2018). Parental involvement of immigrant parents: a meta-synthesis. Educational Review, 1–20. doi:10.1080/00131911.2017.1423278
As a key predictor of students’ academic achievement, parental involvement has been at the centre of attention of both educational researchers and policymakers for quite some time.
Immigrant parents represent a growing but under-researched group with distinctive experiences and expectations. This study synthesises 40 qualitative and quantitative studies on parental involvement among immigrants in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The analysis showed that immigrant parents face unique challenges to their participation due to language barriers and lack of familiarity with the educational system of a host country. Subsequently, increased pressure on parents to be more responsible for the educational performance of their children may lead to further educational inequalities among diverse groups of learners.
* Xu, J., Ni, S., Ran, M., & Zhang, C. (2017). The Relationship between Parenting Styles and Adolescents’ Social Anxiety in Migrant Families: A Study in Guangdong, China. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00626
Previous studies indicated that parenting styles were significant factors for developing children’s well-being. It is known that mass migration to the cities in China will affect family relations. However, few studies focused on the relationship between parenting styles and adolescents’ mental health in migrant families. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how parenting styles could affect adolescent’s social anxiety in migrant families. A total number of 1,345 adolescents in migrant families from four non-government-funded junior middle schools in Guangdong province formed the research sample. Parenting styles were measured using the short-form of the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran, and social anxiety was evaluated using the Social Anxiety Subscale of Self-Consciousness Scale. The results showed that mothers perceived emotional warmth, overprotection, and rejection significantly more often than fathers. Significant differences between high social anxiety and low social anxiety groups were found in both father’s rearing styles and the mother’s rearing styles.
* Salami, B., Hirani, S. A. A., Meherali, S., Amodu, O., & Chambers, T. (2017). Parenting Practices of African Immigrants in Destination Countries: A Qualitative Research Synthesis. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 36, 20–30. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2017.04.016
Problem: While studies have discussed African immigrants’ parenting practices and challenges, no paper has synthesised the results of these qualitative studies. A qualitative synthesis of the literature was conducted to summarise and interpret African immigrants’ parenting practices and challenges in destination countries to identify future research, policy, and practice directions. Eligibility: A qualitative research synthesis method was used to involve meta-summary and meta-synthesis of the literature. A research librarian assisted in searching ten databases. Two members of the research team independently reviewed 1794 articles. The included articles: (a) reported a qualitative research study, (b) was written in English, and (c) provided the perspective of African immigrant parents on their parenting practices and/or challenges. Sample: A total of 24 articles met our inclusion criteria. Results: The results indicate that parenting practices of African immigrants include the following: changes in discipline practices across transnational borders and the use of physical discipline, respect as a deeply embedded value of parenting, integration of cultural values into parenting, and integration of religious practices into parenting. There were also found gender differences in parenting. Challenges faced by African immigrants in parenting their children in destination countries include lack of informal/community support, access to services and lack of proper support, cultural conflict in parenting, fear related to social services, and language barriers. Conclusion and
Implications: This study identifies a need for culturally appropriate policies and practices that build on the strengths of African immigrants in destination countries while addressing their unique challenges
* Abdullahi, I., Leonard, H., Cherian, S. et al. The Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in Children of Immigrant and Refugee Parents: Current Knowledge and Directions for Future Research. Rev J Autism Dev Disord 5, 29–42 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-017-0121-5
This paper systematically reviewed the literature from 2002 to 2016 describing the risks of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children of immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Compared to children of non-immigrant mothers, ten studies found an increased risk of autism and intellectual disability, and four studies found an increased risk of autism without identifying accompanying intellectual disability. Very high stakes were observed if the mother’s country of birth was a developing country or region. One study found a higher risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a sample of children who were refugees. Children of immigrant and refugee backgrounds from developing countries had more significant neurodevelopmental disorder risks than their peers whose mother was locally born.
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