Abstract summary 

To report findings on employment, duration of residence and mental health from a longitudinal study of 107 skilled immigrants to New Zealand from the People's Republic of China, India and South Africa.Demographic and employment data were collected by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire that included (as the mental health instrument) the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). The initial interview took place after the immigrants had been resident in New Zealand for an average of five months. Four subsequent interviews were conducted annually (1999-2002) on or about the anniversary of the first interview.Rather than an initial euphoric period followed by a mental health crisis, the results indicated poor mental health status in the first two years irrespective of employment status. Thereafter, mental health slightly improved as did employment rates. A surprising result was that although the South Africans had the highest employment rate, there were neither substantial mental health differences among the three groups nor was there a significant improvement during the course of the longitudinal study.

Authors & Co-authors:  Pernice Regina R Trlin Andrew A Henderson Anne A North Nicola N Skinner Monica M

Study Outcome 

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