Ichikawa Masao, Nakahara Shinji, Wakai Susumu
Department of Community Health, School of International Health, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2006 Apr;40(4):341-6. doi: 10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01800.x.
Afghan asylum seekers in Japan were increasingly subject to detention following the terrorist attack in New York in September 2001, yet little is reported about the net impact of the detention on their mental health. We examined this by comparing asylum seekers who had once been detained in post-migration and their non-detained counterparts.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 2002/03 among asylum seekers from Afghanistan who were in the process of refugee application in Japan. We contacted them through their lawyers or non-governmental organizations. Of 73 contacted, 55 agreed to participate. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25, and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and past traumatic experiences were studied with the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. These mental disorders were scored on a 4-point scale; the average symptom score of 4 indicates the worst mental health status.
Respondents reported a mean (SD) of 10 (4.0) pre-migration traumas. Since their arrival in Japan, 18 (33%) had once been detained. Trauma exposures and other characteristics of those detained were not significantly different from those not detained, whereas the symptom scores of anxiety (2.91), depression (2.75) and PTSD (2.90) among those detained were higher than among those not detained (2.30, 2.41, 2.34 respectively). Multiple regression analyses revealed independent adverse effects of post-migration detention, alongside exposure to greater trauma and living alone, and the effects were comparable between these variables.
The post-migration detention of Afghan asylum seekers in Japan was independently related to their worsened mental health.
2001年9月纽约发生恐怖袭击事件后，在日本的阿富汗寻求庇护者越来越多地被拘留，但关于拘留对其心理健康的净影响的报道却很少。我们通过比较曾在移民后被拘留的寻求庇护者和未被拘留的寻求庇护者来对此进行研究。
2002/03年，我们对在日本申请难民身份的阿富汗寻求庇护者进行了横断面调查。我们通过他们的律师或非政府组织与他们取得联系。在联系的73人中，55人同意参与。使用霍普金斯症状清单25来测量焦虑和抑郁，并使用哈佛创伤问卷研究创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和过去的创伤经历。这些精神障碍按4分制评分；平均症状评分为4表明心理健康状况最差。
受访者报告在移民前平均（标准差）有10次（4.0次）创伤经历。自抵达日本以来，18人（33%）曾被拘留过。被拘留者的创伤暴露情况和其他特征与未被拘留者没有显著差异，而被拘留者的焦虑症状评分（2.91）、抑郁症状评分（2.75）和创伤后应激障碍症状评分（2.90）高于未被拘留者（分别为2.30、2.41、2.34）。多元回归分析显示，移民后被拘留、遭受更多创伤和独自生活具有独立的不利影响，且这些变量之间的影响相当。
在日本，阿富汗寻求庇护者移民后被拘留与他们心理健康恶化独立相关。
