Mental well-being of migrants in urban center of India: Analyzing the role of social environment.

BACKGROUND

Rural to urban migration has become a salient feature of the country. However, there is a dearth of study highlighting impact of this movement on mental health of the migrant people.

AIMS

The main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between specific components of social environment and psychological well-being of migrants in an urban center.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

The National Capital Territory of Delhi was selected for intensive study and has an exploratory design supported by cross-sectional primary data.

METHODOLOGY

A standardized questionnaire was used to obtain data about the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. For measuring the mental well-being, the World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO5) was used. The required information was procured through interview method from 1230 sampled respondents.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Influence of socioeconomic variables on mental well-being of the people was estimated through multivariate logistic regression methods. For different combinations of risk factors, five models were developed based on unstandardized likelihood coefficients.

RESULTS

Poor mental health was significantly higher among single/widow/divorced/separated (odds ratio [OR] =0.76, < 0.01), unskilled (OR = 2.26, < 0.01), daily wager (OR = 2.57, < 0.01), and illiterate (OR = 2.55, < 0.01). Longer year of immigration, younger age, and higher income level ( < 0.001) were positively related to mental health. Poor housing conditions ( < 0.001), adjustment problem ( < 0.001), and feeling insecure ( < 0.01) were independent predictors of poor mental health.

CONCLUSION

Socioeconomic and environmental problem caused by the migrants and faced by the migrants is required in-depth study to formulate comprehensive policies.