Dataset Information

Maternal depression in Syrian refugee women recently moved to Canada: a preliminary study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Refugee women are almost five times more likely to develop postpartum depression than Canadian-born women. This can be attributed to various difficulties they faced before coming to Canada as well as during resettlement. Moreover, refugee women usually face many obstacles when accessing health services, including language and cultural barriers, as well as unique help-seeking behaviors that are influenced by various cultural and practical factors. There has been a recent, rapid influx of Syrian refugees to Canada, and many of them are childbearing women. However, little is known about the experiences that these women have encountered pre- and post-resettlement, and their perceptions of mental health issues. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand refugee women's experiences of having a baby in Canada from a mental health perspective.

Methods

A mixed methods research design included 12 Syrian refugee women who migrated to Saskatoon in 2015-16 and who were either pregnant or 1 year postpartum. The data were collected during a single focus group discussion and a structured questionnaire.

Results

Our results showed that more than half of participants have depressive symptoms, half of them have anxiety symptoms, and one sixth have PTSD symptoms. Three major themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) Understanding of maternal depression; 2) Protective factors for mental health; and 3) Barriers to mental health services.

Conclusions

Maternal depression is an important feature in Syrian refugee women recently resettled in Canada. Reuniting these women with their families and engaging them in culturally appropriate support programs may improve their mental health outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Ahmed A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5525250 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Maternal depression in Syrian refugee women recently moved to Canada: a preliminary study.

Ahmed Asma A Bowen Angela A Feng Cindy Xin CX

BMC pregnancy and childbirth 20170724 1

<h4>Background</h4>Refugee women are almost five times more likely to develop postpartum depression than Canadian-born women. This can be attributed to various difficulties they faced before coming to Canada as well as during resettlement. Moreover, refugee women usually face many obstacles when accessing health services, including language and cultural barriers, as well as unique help-seeking behaviors that are influenced by various cultural and practical factors. There has been a recent, rapid ...[more]

PMID: 28738869

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Project description:ObjectivesImmigrants are thought to be healthier than their native-born counterparts, but less is known about the health of refugees or forced migrants. Previous studies often equate refugee status with immigration status or country of birth (COB) and none have compared refugee to non-refugee immigrants from the same COB. Herein, we examined whether: (1) a refugee mother experiences greater odds of adverse maternal and perinatal health outcomes compared with a similar non-refugee mother from the same COB and (2) refugee and non-refugee immigrants differ from Canadian-born mothers for maternal and perinatal outcomes.DesignThis is a retrospective population-based database study. We implemented two cohort designs: (1) 1:1 matching of refugees to non-refugee immigrants on COB, year and age at arrival (±5 years) and (2) an unmatched design using all data.Setting and participantsRefugee immigrant mothers (n=34 233), non-refugee immigrant mothers (n=243 439) and Canadian-born mothers (n=615 394) eligible for universal healthcare insurance who had a hospital birth in Ontario, Canada, between 2002 and 2014.Primary outcomesNumerous adverse maternal and perinatal health outcomes.ResultsRefugees differed from non-refugee immigrants most notably for HIV, with respective rates of 0.39% and 0.20% and an adjusted OR (AOR) of 1.82 (95% CI 1.19 to 2.79). Other elevated outcomes included caesarean section (AOR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.08) and moderate preterm birth (AOR 1.08, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.17). For the majority of outcomes, refugee and non-refugee immigrants experienced similar AORs when compared with Canadian-born mothers.ConclusionsRefugee status was associated with a few adverse maternal and perinatal health outcomes, but the associations were not strong except for HIV. The definition of refugee status used herein may not sensitively identify refugees at highest risk. Future research would benefit from further refining refugee status based on migration experiences.

Project description:AimsChildren's responses to war and displacement are varied; many struggle, while others appear resilient. However, research into these outcomes disproportionately focuses on cross-sectional data in high-income countries. We aimed to (1) investigate change in resilience across two timepoints in a highly vulnerable sample of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, and (2) explore predictors of their mental health problems across time.MethodsIn total, 982 Syrian child-caregiver dyads living in refugee settlements in Lebanon completed questionnaires via interview at baseline and follow-up one year later. We categorised children into groups based on their risk for mental health problems across both timepoints (stable high risk/SHR, deteriorating, improving, stable low risk) according to locally validated cut-offs on measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and behavioural problems. Analyses of covariance identified how the groups differed on a range of individual and socio-environmental predictors, followed up by cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) to investigate the directionality of the relationships between significantly related predictors and symptoms.ResultsThe sample showed a meaningful amount of change in mental health symptoms from baseline to follow-up. Over half (56.3%) of children met SHR criteria and 10.3% deteriorated over time, but almost one-quarter (24.2%) showed meaningful improvement, and 9.2% were consistently at low risk for mental health problems at both timepoints. Several predictors differentiated the groups, particularly social measures. According to CLPMs, maternal acceptance (β = -0.07) predicted child mental health symptoms over time. Self-esteem (β = -0.08), maternal psychological control (β = 0.10), child maltreatment (β = 0.09) and caregiver depression (β = 0.08) predicted child symptoms and vice versa (βse = -0.11, βb = 0.07, βmpc = 0.08, βcm = 0.1, βcd = 0.11). Finally, child symptoms predicted loneliness (β = 0.12), bullying (β = 0.07), perceived social support (β = -0.12), parent-child conflict (β = 0.13), caregiver PTSD (β = 0.07), caregiver anxiety (β = 0.08) and the perceived refugee environment (β = -0.09).ConclusionsOur results show risk and resilience are dynamic, and the family environment plays a key role in children's response to war and displacement. Conversely, children also have a significant impact on the family environment and caregiver's own mental health. Interventions to promote resilience in refugee children should therefore consider family-wide mechanisms.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Approximately 18,000 Syrian refugees have resettled to the United States. Half of these refugees are children, whose age and refugee status jeopardize their abilities to attain quality healthcare. Information on Syrian refugees' health in the U.S. is limited. This qualitative study sought to explore Syrian refugee parents' beliefs, perspectives, and practices regarding their children's health through in-depth interviews. METHODS:Eighteen Syrian refugee parents residing in Cincinnati, Ohio were interviewed in Arabic by bilingual researchers using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and translated. Three members of the research team independently coded each interview using an inductive thematic analysis approach. RESULTS:Analysis identified four salient themes: stressors preclude health seeking behaviors, parents perceive health barriers, parents are dissatisfied with the healthcare system, and parents use resilience behaviors to overcome barriers. Stressors included poor housing and neighborhoods, reliving traumatic experiences, depression and anxiety, and social isolation. Dissatisfaction included emergency room wait times, lack of testing and prescriptions. Health barriers included missed appointments and inadequate transportation, translation services, health literacy and care coordination. Parents reported resilience through faith, by seeking knowledge, use of natural remedies, and utilizing community resources. CONCLUSION:This qualitative study provides information on the beliefs, practices, and behaviors of Syrian refugee parents related to health care utilization of pediatric refugees in the United States. Psychosocial and environmental stressors as well as perceived systemic health barriers, hinder health seeking behaviors in Syrian refugee parents. Culturally relevant care targeting perceived barriers and incorporating resilience behaviors may improve parental satisfaction and parental health seeking behaviors. Further study is needed to implement and evaluate interventions that target identified barriers.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Turkey hosts the world's largest community of Syrians displaced by the conflict. The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) is a coordinated set of priority reproductive health services. There is not any scoping review assessing the RH situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey within the framework of the MISP objectives. The objectives of this review is to identify the situation of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) among Syrian refugee women in Turkey, and document the health services provided for them in terms of the components of MISP. We hoped to show evidence of gaps and help guide future research to focus on priority areas to improve the range, quality, and access to SRH services and to recommend public health interventions. METHOD:The literature search was conducted in Turkish and English. Multiple electronic databases (Turkish Medline, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EBSCOHost, CINAHL, and Embase) were searched from January 2011 to May 2018. References published in the peer-reviewed literature, the grey-literature, and on websites were eligible for inclusion if they had conducted research on one or more of the following SRH topics specifically for Syrian women in Turkey: maternal and neonatal health/antenatal care, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, use of contraceptives, sexual violence, and services delivery and accessibility. References were excluded if any of the following criteria were relevant: not specific to Syrian women refugees in Turkey. Firstly, the titles and abstracts of the articles that were found were examined to determine if they met the eligibility criteria. Secondly, if the abstracts and titles met one or more of the eligibility criteria, the full text of the articles have been examined. Finally, standard forms were prepared and used to summarize the articles narratively. The results of the screening were recorded in Excel spreadsheets for comparison, and any disagreements among the researchers were resolved by consensus. The studies were grouped according to the MISP objectives. RESULTS:A total of 24 publications were eligible for inclusion in the review. Consanguineous marriage rate was 56%. The rate of marriage under age 18 were very high. Mean age at first marriage was found to be between 18 and 20. The rate of antenatal care was inadequate. The rate of using a modern contraceptive method was 24% among married and all age groups of Syrian women. The rates of unmet family planning needs were about 35%. Among patients admitted to gynecology outpatient clinics, about half of the applicants were reported to have abnormal vaginal discharge. The reported rates of sexual violence were about 8%. Only 20% of Syrian women had regular gynecological visits. CONCLUSION:Overall, we conclude that early marriage, low modern contraceptive use, unmet need for contraception, sexual and gender-based violence are the major SRH issues reported. There is a need for further studies to identify the barriers limiting service uptake as well as to document successful practices. Long term strategies to improve the SRH status of Syrian refugee women should be developed with participation of all stakeholders. This review is significant in terms of that it is the first scoping review assessing the RH situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey within the framework of the MISP objectives. Based on the data of this review, relevant policy makers should consider to improve the SRH status of Syrian women refugees in Turkey.

Dataset Information

Maternal depression in Syrian refugee women recently moved to Canada: a preliminary study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Maternal depression in Syrian refugee women recently moved to Canada: a preliminary study.

Similar Datasets

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