Predictors of Hostility in a Group of Relocated Refugees
Author(s):
Westermeyer, Joseph; Uecker, Jonathan
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Cultural Diversity And Mental Health, Volume 3, Issue 1 (1997). pp. 53-60.
Language:
English
Abstract:
The objective of this research was to determine whether early post-migration demographic and psychosocial factors associated with cultural marginality would predict hostility 10-yrs after flight and relocation. In this longitudinal study, participants, who had spent 1-yr in a refugee camp, were studied at 1.5, 3.5, and 9 yrs post-relocation in the United States (i.e., Times 1, 2, and 3). Earlier data were compared with hostility at 9-yrs. The 102 Hmong participants in this study, originally from Laos, comprised the first group of Hmong refugees, aged 15-72 yrs old (M=31.0, SD=13.1), to be relocated from Thailand to Minnesota in 1976. Hmong research assistants collected these data using a questionnaire format at 1.5, 3.5, and 9 yrs postrelocation. Hostility was measured using the Hostility subscale of the 90-item Symptom Checklist (SCL-90). Female gender, animistic belief, absence of a leadership role, and high scores on the SCI-Hostility predicted higher SCL-Hostility scores. Increased hostility was associated with greater financial, marital, and mental-emotional problems. The study suggests that demographic factors associated with marginality and loss of control predict hostility in refugee immigrants. Losses and stressors from a decade earlier in Asia did not predict hostility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)