This study investigated and compared mental health levels among refugees and immigrants living in New Zealand. One hundred and twenty-nine Indochinese refugees, 57 Pacific lsland immigrants and 63 British immigrants to New Zealand were surveyed. A questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) in English and in three lndochinese translations, were administered face-to-face. The hypothesis that migrant status (being a refugee or immigrant) affects mental health and that refugees experience more emotional distress than immigrants was only supported by the comparison with British immigrants. Both lndochinese refugees and Pacific Island immigrants experienced relatively low levels of mental health. However, the incidence of clinical depression and clinical total emotional distress tended to be higher among lndochinese refugees than in either immigrant group. ln contrast clinical anxiety occurred most often among Pacific lslanders. © 1994, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

[No Keywords available]

anxiety immigrant depression refugee mental health human Refugees comparative study Aged Depressive Disorder Affective Symptoms Anxiety Disorders Great Britain Mental Disorders mental disease Cross-Cultural Comparison male female Personality Inventory Pacific islands questionnaire symptom Psychometrics emotional stress Article major clinical study adult New Zealand Emigration and Immigration Asia, Southeastern Middle Age