Title:
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Assessing the psychological status of polish migration in Ireland : findings based on a community survey
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It has been widely documented that the process of migration may contribute to negative
psychological outcomes (Bhugra, 2004; Cantor-Graae & Selten, 2005). Although there
are approximately 150,000 Polish citizens living in the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland, the research on their mental health is surprisingly modest. The main
aim of the thesis was to estimate the psychological status of Polish migrants in Ireland
through examination of associations and mechanisms concerning demographic,
psychological, and migration related variables. A paper survey comprising of a selfreported
assessments was applied to collect the data among the Polish migrants and the
Irish natives. The project's results indicated that the status was relatively positive. When
the Polish group (N = 354) was compared with the Irish native residents (N = 304),
there were no significant differences noted on depression, anxiety, and stress levels.
This finding supports past research indicating that there is no unequivocal evidence of
increased levels of mood disorders when migrants are compared with native populations
(Swinnen & Selten, 2007). Although Poles scored higher on some dimensions of
psychotic-like experiences when compared with the Irish participants, the differences
were relatively modest. As psychosis was found to be often associated with increased
levels of mood disorders (Cosoff & Hafner, 2008) and no such associations were found
in the project's results, a substantial increase of psychotic-like experiences is not
expected in future regarding the Polish migrants. However, it is important to emphasize
that past evidence indicated that psychosis-related, psychologically negative outcomes
were 'stronger' for second generations of migrants when compared with first
generations of migrants (Cantor-Graae & Selten, 2005). The differences pertaining to
social resources, early trauma, and substance abuse were small and as such did not seem
to pose serious problems for the Polish migrants. Moreover, psychometric properties of
the DASS-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) scale and its measurement invariance
across gender and nationality were confirmed. Furthermore, it was found that social
capital plays an important role as a mediator between the migrant class and mental
health. Finally, the association between social capital and mental health was dependent
on the migration status prior migration.
The findings of the thesis have important practical implications. Apparently, not all
types of migration result in a worsened psychological status of migrants. It is likely, that
the migrant groups characterised by relatively high education qualifications and
language skills, and equipped with a similar legal status as native residents may function
well outside their countries of origin. Moreover, the project's findings may result in
reduced discrimination and more positive views of migrant groups. The heterogeneity of
the Polish group defies the view that migrant groups are homogeneous and characterised
by uniform features. Additionally, the identified heterogeneity may have important
practical implications as it was established that members of the 'Traditional' class were
characterised by higher levels of anxiety when compared with members of the
'Established' class. Despite relatively positive findings pertaining to the psychological
status of Poles in Ireland, it should be noted that perhaps some Polish migrants
characterised by poor mental well-being might have been underrepresented in the
project's sample. Cross-sectional design and representativeness of the samples
constitute the two main methodological limitations of the project.
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