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Unemployment, underemployment and depressive affect among Southeast Asian refugees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Morton Beiser ,
Phyllis J. Johnson  and
R. Jay Turner
Morton Beiser*
Affiliation:
Culture, Community, and Health Studies, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of British Columbia; and Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada
Phyllis J. Johnson
Affiliation:
Culture, Community, and Health Studies, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of British Columbia; and Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada
R. Jay Turner
Affiliation:
Culture, Community, and Health Studies, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of British Columbia; and Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor Morton Beiser, Culture, Community, and Health Studies, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada.
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Synopsis

This study of 1348 adult Southeast Asian refugees resettling in Vancouver, British Columbia and a comparison sample of 319 permanent residents of the city demonstrates a reciprocal relationship between unemployment and depressive affect. Increased risk of depression accompanied job loss and depression made it more difficult to stay employed. Although the association between unemployment and depression was common to both refugee and host society samples, links between these phenomena proved different in the two groups. In contrast to the refugees for whom income loss was the over-riding stress resulting from job loss, loss of esteem and loss of social contact also proved to be salient stressors for resident Canadians. Although a threat to the mental health of resident Canadians, underemployment – working at a level which considering one's education and previous occupation, is lower than might be expected – did not jeopardize the mental health of refugees.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , August 1993 , pp. 731 - 743
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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