Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2023 Nov;57(11):1475-1485. doi: 10.1177/00048674231174809. Epub 2023 May 21.
Migrants experience various stressors at different stages of migration based on their country of origin, ethnic backgrounds, migration context and host country. Employment is one important post-settlement factor associated with mental health among migrant groups. The study investigates whether the country of origin modifies the association between employment and mental health for Australian migrants.
Nineteen waves of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey were used. Using fixed-effects regression, we examined the effects of within-person changes in employment status on mental health outcomes as measured by the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5), controlling for time-varying confounders and stratified by sex and examined effect modification by country of origin.
The relationship between unemployment and mental health was modified by country of origin for men but not women. Unemployed men from Asian (β = -4.85, < 0.001), African and Middle Eastern (β = -3.61, < 0.05) countries had lower mental health scores compared to employed Australian-born men. For men, there was evidence of effect modification of the association between employment and mental health by country of origin, with the combined effect of being unemployed and being a migrant from an Asian country was almost three points lower than the summed independent risks of these factors (β = -2.72; = 0.01). Also, for men, the combined mental health effect of not being in the labour force and coming from a non-English-speaking European country was greater than the summed effects of these factors (β = -2.33; < 0.001).
Tailored employment-support programmes may be beneficial for migrants from ethnic minorities, particularly those from Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries in Australia. Further research is needed to understand why the mental health of migrant men from these countries is particularly vulnerable to unemployment.
移民在不同的迁移阶段会经历各种压力源，这些压力源取决于他们的原籍国、族裔背景、迁移背景和所在国。就业是与移民群体心理健康相关的一个重要的定居后因素。本研究调查原籍国是否会改变就业与心理健康之间的关联，针对的是澳大利亚移民。
使用澳大利亚家庭收入和劳动力动态调查的 19 个波次的数据。通过固定效应回归，我们考察了就业状况的个体内变化对心理健康结果（用心理健康量表[MHI-5]衡量）的影响，控制了随时间变化的混杂因素，并按性别分层，检验了原籍国的调节作用。
失业与心理健康之间的关系因原籍国而异，但仅限于男性。与澳大利亚出生的就业男性相比，来自亚洲（β=-4.85，<0.001）、非洲和中东（β=-3.61，<0.05）国家的失业男性心理健康评分较低。对于男性，就业与心理健康之间的关联存在原籍国的调节作用，失业和移民来自亚洲国家的综合效应比这些因素的独立风险总和低近 3 分（β=-2.72；=0.01）。此外，对于男性来说，不参加劳动力大军和来自非英语欧洲国家的综合心理健康效应大于这些因素的总和效应（β=-2.33；<0.001）。
有针对性的就业支持计划可能对来自少数民族的移民，特别是来自亚洲、非洲和中东国家的移民有益。需要进一步研究，以了解为什么这些国家的移民男性的心理健康特别容易受到失业的影响。
