Rodriguez Darlene Xiomara, Hill Jessica, McDaniel Paul N
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA.
Health Promot Pract. 2021 Mar;22(2):181-192. doi: 10.1177/1524839920942511. Epub 2020 Jul 30.
Immigration-both the experience of migrating and events after migration-can affect the mental health and well-being of immigrants and their communities. However, evidence suggests that immigrants in the United States do not access mental health services to the same extent as nonimmigrants. In particular, immigrant adolescents and young adults may have unique stressors related to their developmental stage, experiences in school and with peer groups, and shifting roles within family systems. This scoping review summarizes findings from published research studies and practitioner-focused gray literature about the mental health needs of immigrant communities in the United States. The review finds that specific mental health needs vary across factors like age, racial/ethnic group, immigration status, and place of residency. Findings also indicate that structural factors like immigration-related laws affect both access to mental health services and stressors in the overall environment for immigrants and their families. This review also explores models of community-level initiatives that utilize strengths-based approaches to promoting mental health and well-being among immigrant communities. Findings highlight the need for a better understanding of the mental health needs and current barriers to care among diverse immigrant populations, as immigration continues to play a major role in U.S. public policy and discourse. The COVID-19 pandemic taking place as this article goes to press in 2020 also raises questions regarding health equity and access for marginalized populations, including immigrants and their communities, and so these findings also indicate the need for further interdisciplinary research to assess intersections among the pandemic's many impacts, including those related to mental health and well-being.
移民——包括移民经历以及移民后的各种事件——会影响移民及其社区的心理健康和幸福。然而，有证据表明，美国的移民获得心理健康服务的程度不及非移民。特别是，移民青少年和青年可能面临与他们的发育阶段、在学校和同龄人群体中的经历以及家庭系统中角色转变相关的独特压力源。本综述总结了已发表的研究以及以从业者为重点的灰色文献中关于美国移民社区心理健康需求的研究结果。该综述发现，特定的心理健康需求因年龄、种族/族裔群体、移民身份和居住地点等因素而异。研究结果还表明，与移民相关的法律等结构性因素既影响心理健康服务的可及性，也影响移民及其家庭所处整体环境中的压力源。本综述还探讨了社区层面倡议的模式，这些模式采用基于优势的方法来促进移民社区的心理健康和幸福。研究结果强调，随着移民在美国公共政策和讨论中继续发挥重要作用，需要更好地了解不同移民群体的心理健康需求以及当前的护理障碍。在本文于2020年付梓之际发生的新冠疫情也引发了关于包括移民及其社区在内的边缘化人群的健康公平和医疗可及性的问题，因此这些研究结果还表明需要进一步开展跨学科研究，以评估疫情的诸多影响之间的交叉点，包括与心理健康和幸福相关的影响。
