title: Mental health of detained asylum seekers.
abstract: Asylum seekers arriving in the USA are likely to be held in detention for months or years pending adjudication of their asylum claims. We interviewed 70 asylum seekers detained in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. We used self-report questionnaires to assess symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. At baseline, 54 (77%) participants had clinically significant symptoms of anxiety, 60 (86%) of depression, and 35 (50%) of post-traumatic stress disorder; all symptoms were significantly correlated with length of detention (p=0.004, 0.017, and 0.019, respectively). At follow-up, participants who had been released had marked reductions in all psychological symptoms, but those still detained were more distressed than at baseline. Our findings suggest detention of asylum seekers exacerbates psychological symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Bellevue/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. allen.keller@med.nyu
authors.forename: Allen S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosenfeld
authors.forename: Chau
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trinh-Shevrin
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meserve
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leviss
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: Hawthorne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Allden
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ford
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services; D020380:Needs Assessment; D012036:Refugees / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States