title: Effect of post-migration detention on mental health among Afghan asylum seekers in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Afghan asylum seekers in Japan were increasingly subject to detention following the terrorist attack in New York in September 2001, yet little is reported about the net impact of the detention on their mental health. We examined this by comparing asylum seekers who had once been detained in post-migration and their non-detained counterparts.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 2002/03 among asylum seekers from Afghanistan who were in the process of refugee application in Japan. We contacted them through their lawyers or non-governmental organizations. Of 73 contacted, 55 agreed to participate. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25, and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and past traumatic experiences were studied with the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. These mental disorders were scored on a 4-point scale; the average symptom score of 4 indicates the worst mental health status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents reported a mean (SD) of 10 (4.0) pre-migration traumas. Since their arrival in Japan, 18 (33%) had once been detained. Trauma exposures and other characteristics of those detained were not significantly different from those not detained, whereas the symptom scores of anxiety (2.91), depression (2.75) and PTSD (2.90) among those detained were higher than among those not detained (2.30, 2.41, 2.34 respectively). Multiple regression analyses revealed independent adverse effects of post-migration detention, alongside exposure to greater trauma and living alone, and the effects were comparable between these variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The post-migration detention of Afghan asylum seekers in Japan was independently related to their worsened mental health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, School of International Health, University of Tokyo, Japan. masao@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakahara
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000346:Afghanistan / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011330:Prisons; D011640:Public Policy; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors