12-15 June 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland
Busetta A., Loi S., Piereth A.-K. (2024) “The Decline of Immigrant and Refugee Health during the Life Course”. Paper presented at the European Population Conference 2024, Edinburgh, 2-15 June 2024.
Abstract: The healthy immigrant effect posits that immigrants are typically healthier than the native populations in the receiving countries. This advantage is a long-lasting effect of positive immigrant selection. However, the positive selection may not hold true for refugees. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, and focusing on the population aged 18-80, we study physical and mental health trajectories of refugees, and compare them with those of natives, first- and second-generation immigrants. We find that refugees do not benefit from the health selection at younger ages, and display levels of physical health that are significantly lower than those of natives, and those of first- and second-generation immigrants during their whole life course. We also observe that the levels of mental health among refugees are consistently and significantly lower compared to first- and second-generation immigrants, and the decline in mental health at older ages is more pronounced.
EPC2024 https://share.google/OzvJQDtIb61Zjoenr
Busetta A., Mendola D. (2024) “Health, Life Satisfaction, Resilience and Discrimination among Refugees in Germany”. Paper presented at the European Population Conference 2024, Edinburgh, 2-15 June 2024.
Abstract: In our analysis of a sample of refugees who recently arrived in Germany, we found very poor self-reported health conditions – especially psychological ones. Health is not only a matter of socioeconomic conditions but is highly dependent on perceptions and feelings. This paper analyses the relationship between some sociopsychological factors and health conditions. We focussed on the role of life satisfaction, resilience, and perception of discrimination in explaining the health of refugees. Since both health, life satisfaction, resilience and perception of discrimination can be considered latent constructs, we estimated a structural equation model to explore relations among them. Standardized loadings show a higher relevance of depression over physical pain and anxiety in the health dimension. In the measurement model of life satisfaction, satisfaction with present health plays the key role, while feeling like an outsider concurs majorly to measure perceived discrimination. As expected, it stands out that higher resilience and lower perceived discrimination have a positive impact on life satisfaction. Furthermore, life satisfaction is positively associated with health. However, unexpectedly, resilience is negatively associated with health, although the path coefficient is very low. Further developments (in progress) for this work include multigroup analyses by nationality and a better understanding of the relationship between resilience and health as well as the direct and indirect effect of perceived discrimination on health.
