Metrics details. Forced migration can lead to loss of social support and increased vulnerability to psychological distress of displaced individuals. The aims were to ascertain the associations of sociodemographic characteristics and social support received by resettled adult humanitarian migrants in Australia; determine the relationship between social support and mental health at different intervals following humanitarian migration; and examine the modification effects of gender, age and migration pathway on that relationship.
A secondary analysis was conducted of data generated in Waves One three to six months after resettlement , Three three years after resettlement and Five five years after resettlement of the Building a New Life in Australia prospective cohort study. The association between sociodemographic characteristics and mental health were examined at each timepoint using a multivariate regression model.
Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler-6 scale. Path analysis was used to analyse the relationships between social support and psychological distress among the three time points considering socio-demographic characteristics simultaneously. A total of participants were included in the analyses. Age, gender, birth region, migration pathway, education level and English proficiency were significantly associated with both social support types.
Main source of income was only significantly associated with informational support. The relationships between social support and psychological distress varied between genders, age groups and migration pathways. This study also highlights the important of extending current social support provisions and tailoring programs to enhance support received by humanitarian migrant subgroups years after resettlement to improve mental health.
Peer Review reports. Among them, more than 26 million are refugees and more than 4 million are asylum seekers [ 1 ].
