Pre- and Post-Arrival Effects on State and Development of Refugees' Mental Health Status in Germany.

Daniela Foresta, Sapienza Università di Roma
Elena Ambrosetti, La Sapienza, University of Rome
Hans Dietrich, IAB

Refugees have lower levels of mental health respect to other migrants and the host country population. After arrival in the destination country, refugees' mental health can be negatively affected by problems occurring in their everyday lives, such as discrimination and legal and financial worries. This study aims to investigate pre-arrival and post-arrival characteristics. We focus on refugees in Germany, considering data from 2016/2017, 2018 and 2020. We want to address two research questions: 1) Which pre-arrival characteristics influence the initial mental health of the refugees at the first interview? 2) Which changes in everyday life affect the mental health of the refugees over the first five years in Germany? We used data from the German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, started in 2016. We assessed the mental health status through the Mental Component Score (MCS) derived from the SF-12 questionnaire. Our pre-arrival analysis shows that the refugees' mental health is affected by the conditions in the origin country and the trauma during the journey to Germany. In the longitudinal analysis, the MCS is influenced by changes in satisfaction with the work and living situation, the worrying about life in Germany, and the possibility of returning to the origin country.

Keywords: Migrant Populations and Refugees, Health and Morbidity, International Migration, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

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