Introduction
The selected social work practice topic for discussion is mental health issues in immigrant families. The key question is, what are the common mental health issues that immigrant families experience? Several pieces of research have been carried out regarding the topic to help people comprehend it and find the right solutions. The paper provides annotation of journal articles and how they answer the question, and the quality of the evidence supplied.
Annotation
AlegrĂa, M., Ălvarez, K., & DiMarzio, K. (2017). Immigration and mental health. Current Epidemiology Reports, 4(2), 145-155.Â
The article identifies the leading mental health problems associated with migrant families, particularly within the United States. The United States has witnessed a growth in immigrants over the last 35 years, which has generated tremendous societal and economic impacts. This is because immigration has yielded population growth and increased productivity. The authors hold that first-generation migrants appear to demonstrate superior mental health soon after settling in the host country compared to the migrants born within the host nation. First-generation immigrants have better mental and physical health outcomes.
The article’s methodology revolves around the use of previous studies linked with immigrants’ mental health. The findings disclose that first immigrant families experience several mental health issues like depression, substance use, anxiety, suicidality, and psychotic disorders. The foreign-born immigrants within the United States appear to suffer more from the mental health issues linked with the first-generation immigrants (AlegrĂa, Ălvarez & DiMarzio, 2017). However, the initial advantage disappears after some time, compelling first-generation immigrants to reveal more mental health issues due to poor social-economic status, discrimination, language barrier, social exclusion, and acculturative stress. The immigrants slowly adapt to the new experiences to overcome the mental health issues and integrate with the locals.
Close, C., Kouvonen, A., Bosqui, T., Patel, K., OâReilly, D., & Donnelly, M. (2016). The mental health and wellbeing of first-generation migrants: A systematic-narrative review of reviews. Globalization and Health, 12(1), 1-13.Â
The journal article reveals the overall wellbeing and mental health-related problems linked with first-generation migrants. Migration transpires throughout the world due to high levels of poverty, unemployment, and conflict, which compel families to look for safe and economically stable countries to settle in. Most immigrants show healthy mental outcomes, although this fades soon after migration forcing mental health problems to emerge (Close et al., 2016). The poor mental health conditions within the migrant families make it easy to identify vulnerable groups and adopt the correct public health responses to improve their wellbeing.
The fundamental methodology utilized previous studies related to mental health in migrant families, particularly from MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO. The findings from the previous studies disclosed that first-generation migrants have a high prevalence of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), anxiety, depression, and psychotic disorders. The mental health issues arise due to geographical, economic, and socio-demographic factors and differences between the host country and country of origin. Consequently, first-generation migrants undergo several mental health issues that largely arise from the disparities between the host nation and the country of origin (Close et al., 2016). Health professionals handling immigrant families ought to consider migration as a significant cause of their mental health problems.
Salas-Wright, C. P., Vaughn, M. G., Goings, T. C., Miller, D. P., & Schwartz, S. J. (2018). Immigrants and mental disorders in the United States: New evidence on the healthy migrant hypothesis. Psychiatry Research, 267(1), 438-445.Â
The journal article analyzes the major mental disorders that immigrants experience within the United States. The authors hold that migrants undergo stress due to difficulties in adjusting to new culture and environment. The fact that the migration process is not random and the focus of first-generation immigrants to find a safe and economically stable country to live in allows them to have better mental health outcomes. The first-generation migrants demonstrate a low prevalence of mental health issues linked with foreign-born immigrants as they feel secure and safe in the host nation.
The methodology utilized in the article is a survey on 36,309 adults in the United States on an array of mental health illnesses and immigration status. The findings demonstrated that both immigrants and US-born immigrants have mental issues due to cultural stress and acculturation, but the immigrants have a lower prevalence. This is because most immigrants do not come from families with psychiatric complications like the American-born immigrants (Salas-Wright et al., 2018). Therefore, immigrants reveal lower rates of mental disorders like trauma-related, anxiety, and depressive illnesses than American-born immigrants soon after getting into the United States due to low psychiatric morbidity.
Conclusion
Ideally, the selected journal articles correctly answered the question, thus helping in understanding the major mental health issues associated with immigrant families. The question concentrates on identifying the common mental health problems immigrants undergo, which may be crucial for people providing social support and healthcare professionals to help them attain a quality of life. The articles disclose that the common mental problems linked with immigrant families include PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance use, substance use, and psychotic disorders. However, first-generation immigrants have a lower risk of mental health issues than foreign-born immigrants soon after reaching the host nation, as most of their needs and anticipations appear to be fulfilled.
Most first-generation immigrants leave their countries due to conflict, joblessness, and poverty hence appear to be highly contented after reaching the host country that is economically and politically stable. However, the initial migrant advantage quickly disappears as the individuals search for a livelihood where they encounter language barriers, discrimination, acculturative stress, and social exclusion, leading to more mental health problems. The journal articles provide quality evidence supported by references and incorporation of data obtained from previous studies and surveys. This makes the information reliable and authentic to facilitate rational and trustworthy deductions.
References
AlegrĂa, M., Ălvarez, K., & DiMarzio, K. (2017). Immigration and mental health. Current Epidemiology Reports, 4(2), 145-155. Web.
Close, C., Kouvonen, A., Bosqui, T., Patel, K., OâReilly, D., & Donnelly, M. (2016). The mental health and wellbeing of first-generation migrants: A systematic-narrative review of reviews. Globalization and Health, 12(1), 1-13. Web.
Salas-Wright, C. P., Vaughn, M. G., Goings, T. C., Miller, D. P., & Schwartz, S. J. (2018). Immigrants and mental disorders in the United States: New evidence on the healthy migrant hypothesis. Psychiatry Research, 267(1), 438-445. Web.