Immigration and Mental Health: Stress, Psychiatric Disorders and Suicidal Behavior Among Immigrants and Refugees (Psychiartry - Theory, Applications and Treatments)

362 Pages·2010·3.33 MB·English

by  Leo Sher

PSYCHIATRY – THEORY, APPLICATIONS AND TREATMENTS

I M H :
MMIGRATION AND ENTAL EALTH
S , P D
TRESS SYCHIATRIC ISORDERS AND
S B A
UICIDAL EHAVIOR MONG
I R
MMIGRANTS AND EFUGEES

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PSYCHIATRY – THEORY, APPLICATIONS
AND TREATMENTS

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PSYCHIATRY – THEORY, APPLICATIONS AND TREATMENTS

I M H :
MMIGRATION AND ENTAL EALTH
S , P D
TRESS SYCHIATRIC ISORDERS AND
S B A
UICIDAL EHAVIOR MONG
IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

LEO SHER
AND
ALEXANDER VILENS
EDITORS

Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
New York
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Immigration and mental health : stress, psychiatric disorders, and suicidal
behavior among immigrants and refugees / editors, Leo Sher, Alexander
Vilens.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61324-748-8 (eBook)
1. Immigrants--Mental health. I. Sher, Leo. II. Vilens, Alexander.
[DNLM: 1. Emigrants and Immigrants--psychology. 2. Mental Health. 3.
Acculturation. 4. Mental Disorders. 5. Stress, Psychological. 6. Suicide.
WA 305.1 I33 2010]
RC451.4.E45I46 2010
362.196'890086912--dc22
2010015602
Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York
CONTENTS

Preface ix
Part I Suicidal Behavior
Chapter 1 A Model of Suicidal Behavior among Immigrants with
Psychiatric Disorders 1
Leo Sher
Chapter 2 Immigration and Suicide: An Overview 9
Brian Greenfield, Londa Daniel and Bonnie Harnden
Chapter 3 Immigrants and Suicidal Behavior: The Role of Gender 21
Diana van Bergen and Sawitri Saharso
Chapter 4 Suicidal Behavior among Hispanic Immigrants in the United States 37
Guilherme Borges, Liliana Mondragón and Joshua Breslau
Chapter 5 Suicidality and Acculturation in Hispanic Adolescents 57
Andres J. Pumariega, Eugenio M. Rothe, Jeffrey Swanson,
Charles E. Holzer, Arthur O. Linskey and Ruben Quintero-Salinas
Chapter 6 Suicide amongst Britain‘s Immigrant Population: Data Sources,
Analytical Approaches, and Main Findings 71
Peter J. Aspinall
Chapter 7 The Effects of Immigration on the Mental Health of Adolescents:
Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Abuse,
Delinquent and Suicidal Behavior among Immigrant Youth 87
Dana Galler and Leo Sher
Part II Acculturation and Mental Health
Chapter 8 Acculturation and Mental Disorders among Immigrants 101
Michael G. Madianos
Chapter 9 Immigration, Psychosocial Factors and Psychological Distress, with
Focus on Perceived Control and Social Integration 113
Odd Steffen Dalgard
vi Contents

Chapter 10 Depression among Latinos in the United States 133
Patricia Gonzalez and Monica Rosales
Chapter 11 Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, and Depression among Haitians
in the United States 149
Guerda Nicolas, Darren Bernal and Seth T. Christman
Chapter 12 Changes in the Psychological Well-Being of Immigrants: A Three-
Year Longitudinal Study of Immigrant Adolescents Including the
Pre-Migration Period 163
Eugene Tartakovsky
Chapter 13 Mental Health Problems among Immigrants in Israel 187
Alexander M. Ponizovsky
Chapter 14 Epidemiology of Mental Health Problems among Immigrants. Case
of Korean Immigrants in Brazil 209
Sam Chun-Kang, Denise Razouk, Jair J. de Mari, Itiro Shirakawa
and Luiza Beth Alonso
Chapter 15 Successful Use of Mental Health Migration Models: The New
Zealand Experience 223
Regina Pernice
Part III: Substance Abuse
Chapter 16 Substance Use Disorder among Immigrants in the United States 243
Sun S. Kim, David Kalman, Gerardo Gonzalez and
Douglas Ziedonis
Chapter 17 Alcohol Drinking and Treatment among Immigrants from the
Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel: Review of Recent
Publications January 2007-June 2009 267
Shoshana Weiss
Part IV: Miscellaneous
Chapter 18 The Motives for Migration 283
Michal Sabagh and Barbara S. Okun
Chapter 19 The Social and Cultural Context of Immigration and Stress 295
Katie Vasey and Lenore Manderson
Chapter 20 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Integration of Biological and
Psychosocial Aspects 313
María Dolores Braquehais Conesa and Leo Sher
Contents vii
Chapter 21 Impulsivity: A New Concept for an Old Idea 321
María Dolores Braquehais Conesa
Chapter 22 Not Just Another Pretty Face: The Cross-Cultural Perception and
Social Ramifications of Facial Attractiveness 327
Dana Galler
Chapter 23 About the Editors 333
Index 335

PREFACE

Immigrants' journeys to a new nation have been among the most exciting and dignified of
human endeavors. Immigrants are going to a new country for the best of intensions: the wish
to improve their lives; the desire to leave countries whose governments they could not
tolerate; and the eagerness to work for another country where individuals can live in freedom
and dignity. Immigrants are an integral part of many societies, contributing both to the
economy and diversity of their new countries.
Immigration is usually very nerve-racking. Upon arrival to a new country immigrants are
confronted with various stresses and adjustment problems in the receiving society.
The pain, pressure and stress associated with immigration can come from all facets of
life: language barriers, feeling of loneliness and marginality, homesickness, social role
changes and identity crises, cultural differences, economic adversities, social discrimination
and family troubles. There is a high prevalence of psychological distress among immigrants.
This can lead to severe and long-lasting psychological and behavioral problems, including
depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and a high risk for
suicide. It has been suggested that immigrants are more likely to need psychiatric treatment
than natives.
Generally, there are two opposite viewpoints of immigrants‘ psychological health. The
first one predicts higher psychological distress among immigrants, and the other argues that
immigrants have better psychological health than natives. Some studies indicate the existence
of positive migratory selection factors, i.e., the self-selection and selection effect of
immigration policies motivate the mentally healthy people who can be characterized as
having strong, optimistic and confident personalities, to migrate to other countries.
Immigrants often face significant obstacles to receiving quality mental health care
including financial difficulties, lack of insurance, the lack of culturally- and linguistically-
appropriate services, and mistrust of mental health providers. For example, in the U.S., a
disproportionate number of immigrants work in low-wage jobs, in small firms, and in labor,
service, or trade occupations, which are less likely to offer health benefits.
This book is devoted to research on immigration and mental health. The contributors to
this book are the leading international experts in psychiatry, psychology and sociology. We
would like to acknowledge and thank all the contributors. Our task as the editors was greatly
facilitated by their swift and positive response to our initial inquiry, and thereafter by
producing their manuscripts diligently.