TY - JOUR
T1 - Unaccompanied status as a risk factor in Vietnamese Amerasians
AU - Mckelvey, Robert S.
AU - Webb, John A.
N1 - Funding Information:
show significantly greater increases in psychological distress than accompanied migrants, even after accounting for differences in their predeparture risk levels. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated a group of Vietnamese Amerasians both prior to, and during, their migration to the United States. Vietnamese Amerasians are ideal subjects for such research in that the timing and route of their migration are determined in advance. Thus they are more easily available for study than other migrant groups, whose departure from their homelands is often unpredictable and along diverse migratory routes. Vietnamese Amerasians are the children of U.S. citizens and Vietnamese women born during the years of the United States' participation in the Vietnam War (1962-1975). Reportedly subjected to discrimination in Vietnam and raised in poverty there with diminished educational and vocational opportunities, Amerasians were acknowledged as a U.S. responsibility with passage of the Amerasian Homecoming Act in December 1987 \[11, 12\].U nder the terms of the Act, Amerasians born between 1962 and 1975 are allowed to migrate, along with members of their immediate family, to the United States, 'the land of their fathers'. Although Amerasians and their families are immigrants rather than true refugees, they receive free transportation to the United States, paid for by the U.S. government, and are granted various refugee entitlements, including medical care, housing and money, once they arrive in the United States \[12\]. With passage of the Act, the Vietnamese government made efforts to inform Amerasians, both through the media and through local authorities such as the police, of their opportunity to resettle in the United States. In 1990, the Vietnamese government opened the Amerasian Transit Center (ATC) in Ho Chi Minh City, supported, in part, by funds from the U.S. government. The ATC functions as a central collection point for Amerasians prior to their departure for the United States. From the ATC Amerasians are flown to the Philippines, where they spend six months in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), a United Nations' sponsored refugee camp on the Bataan peninsula. Here Amerasians and their families receive six months of instruction in the English language and American culture and work habits. From the PRPC Amerasians are flown to various 'cluster sites' located throughout the United States. These cluster sites are operated by voluntary non-profit organizations under contract with the U.S. Department of State to provide basic services to arriving Amerasians and their families, and to assist them with their initial adjustment to the United States.
PY - 1995/7
Y1 - 1995/7
N2 - This study prospectively evaluates the relationship between unaccompanied status and levels of psychological distress in a group of Vietnamese Amerasians both prior to, and during, migration. Its objective was to determine whether unaccompanied migrant status functions as an independent post-departure risk factor for psychological distress, or if unaccompanied migrants are already at increased risk for, and have higher levels of, psychological distress prior to departure and the acquisition of unaccompanied status. Seventy-five Vietnamese Amerasian youth were evaluated at two points during their migration utilizing Felsman's Personal Information Form, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, and the Youth Self-Report. The first assessment was conducted prior to migration at the Amerasian Transit Center in Vietnam, and the second during migration at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. Unaccompanied Amerasians were found to have significantly higher risk levels for, and significantly more symptoms of, psychological distress prior to migration than accompanied Amerasians. During migration the difference in levels of psychological distress between accompanied and unaccompanied Amerasians increased beyond that attributable to predeparture risk levels alone. This significant differential increase in levels of psychological distress among unaccompanied Amerasians is attributable to unaccompanied status. Unaccompanied migrant status thus appears to function both as an independent postdeparture risk factor for psychological distress and also as a marker for increased levels of risk and psychological distress prior to migration.
AB - This study prospectively evaluates the relationship between unaccompanied status and levels of psychological distress in a group of Vietnamese Amerasians both prior to, and during, migration. Its objective was to determine whether unaccompanied migrant status functions as an independent post-departure risk factor for psychological distress, or if unaccompanied migrants are already at increased risk for, and have higher levels of, psychological distress prior to departure and the acquisition of unaccompanied status. Seventy-five Vietnamese Amerasian youth were evaluated at two points during their migration utilizing Felsman's Personal Information Form, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, and the Youth Self-Report. The first assessment was conducted prior to migration at the Amerasian Transit Center in Vietnam, and the second during migration at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. Unaccompanied Amerasians were found to have significantly higher risk levels for, and significantly more symptoms of, psychological distress prior to migration than accompanied Amerasians. During migration the difference in levels of psychological distress between accompanied and unaccompanied Amerasians increased beyond that attributable to predeparture risk levels alone. This significant differential increase in levels of psychological distress among unaccompanied Amerasians is attributable to unaccompanied status. Unaccompanied migrant status thus appears to function both as an independent postdeparture risk factor for psychological distress and also as a marker for increased levels of risk and psychological distress prior to migration.
KW - psychological distress
KW - risk factors
KW - unaccompanied migrants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0029008050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0029008050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0277-9536(94)00314-J
DO - 10.1016/0277-9536(94)00314-J
M3 - Article
C2 - 7667687
AN - SCOPUS:0029008050
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 41
SP - 261
EP - 266
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
IS - 2
ER -