Peter Young 1 , Michael S Gordon 2 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The poor mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention has consistently been reported in peer-reviewed literature internationally; however, data on the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees detained in Australian immigration has been very limited. METHODS: We re-analysed mental health screening data obtained by the Human Rights Commission. RESULTS: Longer time in detention was associated with higher self-reported depression scores, with female individuals being more vulnerable to time in detention than those of male gender. Approximately one-half of the refugee group who agreed to complete the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire had post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. On clinician-rated measures, one-third of the children, adolescents and adults suffered with clinical symptoms requiring tertiary outpatient assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This paper consolidates the findings of the 2014 Australian Human Rights Commission report and it provides an argument for public reporting of refugee data. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.
OBJECTIVES: The poor mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention has consistently been reported in peer-reviewed literature internationally; however, data on the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees detained in Australian immigration has been very limited. METHODS: We re-analysed mental health screening data obtained by the Human Rights Commission. RESULTS: Longer time in detention was associated with higher self-reported depression scores, with female individuals being more vulnerable to time in detention than those of male gender. Approximately one-half of the refugee group who agreed to complete the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire had post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. On clinician-rated measures, one-third of the children , adolescents and adults suffered with clinical symptoms requiring tertiary outpatient assessment. CONCLUSIONS: This paper consolidates the findings of the 2014 Australian Human Rights Commission report and it provides an argument for public reporting of refugee data. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.
Entities: Disease
Species
Keywords:
Australian Human Rights Commission; Harvard Trauma Questionnaire; detention; immigration; mental health; mental health screening; post-traumatic stress disorder; refugees; stress; time
Mesh： See more »
Year: 2016
PMID： 26755798 DOI： 10.1177/1039856215624247
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Australas Psychiatry ISSN： 1039-8562 Impact factor: 1.369