School of Medicine, University of New Mexico.
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2018;88(1):26-37. doi: 10.1037/ort0000272. Epub 2017 Jun 15.
Consistent evidence documents the negative impacts of family separation on refugee mental health and concerns for the welfare of distant family members and desire to reunite with family members as priorities for refugees postmigration. Less is known about refugees' emic perspectives on their experiences of family separation. Using mixed methods data from a community-based mental health intervention study, we found that family separation was a major source of distress for refugees and that it was experienced in a range of ways: as fear for family still in harm's way, as a feeling of helplessness, as cultural disruption, as the greatest source of distress since resettlement, and contributing to mixed emotions around resettlement. In addition to these qualitative findings, we used quantitative data to test the relative contribution of family separation to refugees' depression/anxiety symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and psychological quality of life. Separation from a family member was significantly related to all 3 measures of mental health, and it explained significant additional variance in all 3 measures even after accounting for participants' overall level of trauma exposure. Relative to 26 other types of trauma exposure, family separation was 1 of only 2 traumatic experiences that explained additional variance in all 3 measures of mental health. Given the current global refugee crisis and the need for policies to address this large and growing issue, this research highlights the importance of considering the ways in which family separation impacts refugee mental health and policies and practices that could help ameliorate this ongoing stressor. (PsycINFO Database Record
一致的证据表明，家庭分离对难民的心理健康有负面影响，并使难民关注远在他乡的亲人的福利以及与家人团聚的愿望成为他们移民后的首要任务。然而，对于难民对家庭分离经历的本土观点，我们知之甚少。本研究采用基于社区的心理健康干预研究的混合方法数据，发现家庭分离是难民痛苦的主要来源，他们以多种方式经历着家庭分离：担心仍处于危险中的家人、感到无助、文化被打破、是重新安置后最大的痛苦来源，以及对重新安置的情绪产生混合影响。除了这些定性发现外，我们还使用定量数据来测试家庭分离对难民抑郁/焦虑症状、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状和心理健康生活质量的相对贡献。与家庭成员分离与所有 3 项心理健康指标均显著相关，即使考虑到参与者的整体创伤暴露水平，家庭分离也能解释所有 3 项心理健康指标中额外的差异。与 26 种其他类型的创伤暴露相比，家庭分离是仅有的 2 种能解释所有 3 项心理健康指标中额外差异的创伤经历之一。鉴于当前全球难民危机以及需要制定政策来解决这一庞大且不断增长的问题，本研究强调了考虑家庭分离对难民心理健康的影响以及可以帮助缓解这种持续压力的政策和做法的重要性。
