B Heidi Ellis1,2, Georgios Sideridis3,4, Seetha H Davis5, Emma Cardeli5,3, Saida M Abdi6, Alisa K Lincoln7. 1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Mail Stop BCH 3199, Boston, MA, 02115-5724, USA. heidi.ellis@childrens.harvard.edu. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. heidi.ellis@childrens.harvard.edu. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 4. Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Mail Stop BCH 3199, Boston, MA, 02115-5724, USA. 6. School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA. 7. Departments of Sociology and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Immigrant mental health is closely linked to the context of reception in the receiving society, including discrimination; past research has examined this relationship only cross-sectionally. This longitudinal study examines the relationships between discrimination and mental health among Somali immigrants living in North America from 2013 to 2019. METHODS: Data for 395 participants (mean age 21 years at Time 1) were collected through the four-wave Somali Youth Longitudinal Study in four cities: Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Lewiston/Portland, ME, and Toronto, ON. Latent linear and quadratic growth models were used to predict mental health symptoms over time and discrimination's role in these changes. RESULTS: PTSD and anxiety symptoms decreased from 2013 to 2015 and subsequently increased. Depression was static from 2013 to 2015, worsening thereafter. Increases in discrimination predicted increases in mental health symptomatology at all timepoints. CONCLUSION: This study provides support for discrimination's toxic impact on mental health and suggests that recent increases in discrimination may have contributed to worsening mental health among Somali immigrants living in North America.
PURPOSE: Immigrant mental health is closely linked to the context of reception in the receiving society, including discrimination; past research has examined this relationship only cross-sectionally. This longitudinal study examines the relationships between discrimination and mental health among Somali immigrants living in North America from 2013 to 2019. METHODS: Data for 395 participants (mean age 21 years at Time 1) were collected through the four-wave Somali Youth Longitudinal Study in four cities: Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Lewiston/Portland, ME, and Toronto, ON. Latent linear and quadratic growth models were used to predict mental health symptoms over time and discrimination's role in these changes. RESULTS: PTSD and anxiety symptoms decreased from 2013 to 2015 and subsequently increased. Depression was static from 2013 to 2015, worsening thereafter. Increases in discrimination predicted increases in mental health symptomatology at all timepoints. CONCLUSION: This study provides support for discrimination's toxic impact on mental health and suggests that recent increases in discrimination may have contributed to worsening mental health among Somali immigrants living in North America.
Authors: Angela Nickerson; Belinda J Liddell; David Keegan; Ben Edwards; Kim L Felmingham; David Forbes; Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic; Alexander C McFarlane; Meaghan O'Donnell; Derrick Silove; Zachary Steel; Miranda van Hooff; Richard A Bryant Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2018-08-30 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Theresa S Betancourt; Elizabeth A Newnham; Dina Birman; Robert Lee; B Heidi Ellis; Christopher M Layne Journal: J Trauma Stress Date: 2017-06-06
Authors: William E Copeland; Adrian Angold; Lilly Shanahan; E Jane Costello Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2013-10-12 Impact factor: 8.829