Occurrence and correlates of depressive symptoms among the resettled Afghan refugees in a regional area of Australia

• Published in: Early intervention in psychiatry Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 463 - 470
• Main Authors: Hamrah, Mohammad Shoaib, Hoang, Ha, Mond, Jonathan, Pahlavanzade, Bagher, Charkazi, Abdurrahman, Auckland, Stuart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd 01.06.2021; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Afghan; Correlation; Demographic variables; depressive symptoms; Health promotion; Launceston; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Migration; Multivariate analysis; occurrence; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychological stress; Refugees; Australia; Afghan; occurrence; refugees; depressive symptoms; Launceston
• ISSN: 1751-7885; 1751-7893
• DOI: 10.1111/eip.12957

Aims Refugees and asylum seekers are at high risk of mental health problems such as post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Elucidating the occurrence and correlates of these problems in specific resettled refugee populations may be helpful in informing tailored prevention and health promotion programs. We sought to elucidate the occurrence and correlates of depressive symptoms among Afghan refugees resettled in Launceston, a regional town of Australia. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 66 resettled Afghan refugees residing in Launceston in April 2019. We used the Hopkins symptoms checklist (HSCL‐25) and the post migration living difficulties scale (PMLD) to measure depression symptoms and post‐migration variables, respectively. Demographic characteristics and levels of physical activity were also assessed. Multivariate analysis was used to examine factors associated with depressive symptoms. Results High levels of depressive symptoms were reported by 21.2% of participants (95% CI: 12.1%‐33.0%) and were more common among female participants (41.2%, 95% CI: 18.4%‐67.1%) than male participants (14.3%, 95% CI: 5.9%‐27.2%). Isolation (loneliness, being or feeling alone) (OR = 19.5, 95% CI: 1.9‐203.5) and physical inactivity (OR = 9.2, 95% CI: 1.8‐45.8) were the only variables independently associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Depressive symptoms were common among Afghan refugees living in Launceston, particularly women, and were associated with isolation and physical inactivity. Hence these factors might usefully be targeted in local health promotion and prevention programs.