Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Volume 185, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 39-45

Predictors of depression among refugees from Vietnam: A longitudinal study of new arrivals (Article)

Hinton W.L.* , Tiet Q. , Tran C.G. , Chesney M.
  • a Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States, Robert Wood Johnson Clin. S., University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
  • b [Affiliation not available]
  • c [Affiliation not available]
  • d University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States

Abstract

The present study examined the impact of prearrival traumatic experiences and sociodemographic characteristics on future depression among Vietnamese and Chinese refugees from Vietnam. This is a longitudinal study of newly arrived refugees from Vietnam undergoing a mandatory health screening. A stratified consecutive sample of ethnic Chinese and ethnic Vietnamese refugees was drawn. The depression subscale of the Indochinese Hopkins symptoms checklist was administered to 114 refugees within the first 6 months after arrival in the United States und 12 to 18 months later. Ethnic Vietnamese reported more prearrival trauma compared with ethnic Chinese. Age was strongly correlated with time 2 depression among ethnic Vietnamese but not among ethnic Chinese. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that being a veteran, older, unattached, less proficient in English, ethnic Vietnamese, and more depressed at baseline predicted higher depression at follow-up. Although prearrival trauma predicted future depression, other sociodemographic characteristics assumed more importance with time.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

Vietnam China depression refugee human Longitudinal Studies Life Change Events Refugees war Ethnic Groups probability Depressive Disorder language United States Humans male female Viet Nam prediction Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Article major clinical study adult age Age Factors psychotrauma

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0031026097&doi=10.1097%2f00005053-199701000-00007&partnerID=40&md5=097b74f162433b20e715f1b145081398

DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199701000-00007
ISSN: 00223018
Cited by: 56
Original Language: English