Journal article
The mental health effects of changing from insecure to secure visas for refugees
A Nickerson, Y Byrow, M O’Donnell, RA Bryant, V Mau, T McMahon, J Hoffman, N Mastrogiovanni, P Specker, BJ Liddell
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry | SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD | Published : 2023
Abstract
Objective: In response to growing numbers of refugees worldwide, host governments are increasingly implementing temporary protection policies; however, little is known regarding the mental health impact of these policies. This online longitudinal study investigated whether refugees who transitioned from low visa security (e.g. short-term transient visas) to medium (e.g. temporary protection visas) or high visa (e.g. permanent visas) security showed changes in depression symptoms, social difficulties and immigration-related fears. Methods: Participants were 1,201 refugees and asylum-seekers from Arabic, Farsi, Tamil or English-speaking backgrounds. Study variables were measured prior to and a..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the contribution of Australian Red Cross and Settlement Services International to this study. The authors also acknowledge the contributions of Rosanna Pajak and Susan Li to study conception and data collection, Zachary Steel and David Berle to study conception, and Stephanie Murphy, Candy Liu, Amber Hamilton, Savannah Minihan, Lillian Le, Shraddha Kashyap, Ola Ahmed, Jessica Cheung, Miriam Den and Emma Doolan to data collection in this study. The authors acknowledge the assistance of refugee casework and counselling services in Australia in study recruitment, and are grateful to Sarah Dale for the Refugee Advice and Casework Service for assisting with information regarding Australia's refugee policies.