Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009.
Aust N Z J Public Health. 2012 Apr;36(2):120-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2012.00842.x. Epub 2012 Feb 23.
Since the mid-1990s Australia's immigration program has focused on encouraging skilled migration. This study investigated skill usage in three longitudinal studies of immigrants to Australia and examined if there is an association with mental health status.
Three Longitudinal Surveys of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA), with multiple data collection waves, were conducted between 1994 and 2006. Some 5,192 primary applicants participated in LSIA1, 3,124 in LSIA2 and 9,865 in LSIA3. Data collected included demographics and employment history in all surveys as well as mental health in LSIA1 and 2.
Among migrants in LSIA 1, 49% reported working in jobs in which they used their skills sometimes, rarely or never, 3½ years after immigrating. This was not solely explained by English language proficiency as 47% of migrants who reported speaking English well or very well did not use their qualifications in their job. Migrants who did not use their job qualifications at wave three had a worse GHQ-12 score at wave three after adjusting for age, sex, country of birth and highest educational qualification. There was no difference in wave one or wave two GHQ-12 score between those who did or did not use their job qualifications at wave three. The pattern was similar for those migrants in LSIA 2.
There is a large under-utilisation of employment skills in the migrant population in Australia up to 3½ years after immigrating. This is associated with poorer mental health.
自 20 世纪 90 年代中期以来，澳大利亚的移民计划一直侧重于鼓励技术移民。本研究调查了澳大利亚移民的三项纵向研究中的技能使用情况，并探讨了其与心理健康状况之间是否存在关联。
1994 年至 2006 年期间进行了三次澳大利亚移民纵向研究（LSIA），该研究进行了多次数据收集。共有 5192 名主要申请人参加了 LSIA1，3124 名申请人参加了 LSIA2，9865 名申请人参加了 LSIA3。收集的数据包括所有调查中的人口统计数据和就业历史，以及 LSIA1 和 2 中的心理健康数据。
在 LSIA1 中的移民中，有 49%的人报告称，在移民后 3 年半的时间里，他们在工作中有时、很少或从未使用过自己的技能。这并不仅仅是英语水平的问题，因为 47%的英语水平报告良好或非常好的移民并没有在工作中使用他们的资格。在调整年龄、性别、出生国和最高教育资格后，在第 3 波未使用工作资格的移民在第 3 波时 GHQ-12 评分更差。在第 1 波或第 2 波 GHQ-12 评分中，使用或不使用工作资格的移民之间没有差异。对于 LSIA2 中的移民，这种模式也类似。
在移民到达澳大利亚后 3 年半的时间里，移民群体中存在大量就业技能未得到充分利用的情况。这与心理健康状况较差有关。
