Mental Health of Spanish Immigrants in Germany and the UK in Comparison to Non-Immigrants and Migration Protective Factors

The global economic crisis of the previous decade has accelerated internal mobility in the European Union. The main objective was to analyse perceived stress and mental health among Spanish immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as gender differences, and to examine the mediation role of perceived s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Elgorriaga Astondoa, Edurne, Ibabe Erostarbe, Izaskun, Arnoso Martínez, Ainara
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/32785
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/32785
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:migration
mental health
perceived stress
expectations
employment
Asian-American immigrants
psychological distress
acculturative stress
gender-differences
United-States
fit indexes
sample-size
migrants
discrimination
adaptation
Descripción
Sumario:The global economic crisis of the previous decade has accelerated internal mobility in the European Union. The main objective was to analyse perceived stress and mental health among Spanish immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as gender differences, and to examine the mediation role of perceived stress in the relationship between migration protective factors and mental health. A convenience sample (N = 941) was obtained by snowball sampling, contacting with social networks during 2014 and 2015. Spanish immigrants (n = 719) living in Germany or United Kingdom and non-immigrants (n = 222) living in Spain answered an online survey with a questionnaire about socio-demographic and migration variables (immigrants) as well as PSS-14 and GQH-28. The low level of perceived stress and mental health symptoms found were similar in Spanish immigrants and non-immigrants. Women immigrants presented slightly higher rates of prevalence of somatisation and anxiety insomnia and higher perceived stress. A parsimonious structural equation model with two protective migration factors was obtained (R-2 =.58), which had direct and indirect effects on mental health through perceived stress. The migration process was not related to poorer mental health in the European context, and gender differences were small. These findings could be explained by the privileged migration conditions of Spanish immigrants.