title: Employment Satisfaction and Health Outcomes among Professional Iraqi refugees as compared to Immigrants.
abstract: This study investigates employment and health outcomes in Iraqi refugees compared to Iraqi immigrants. We surveyed 148 Iraqi professional refugees and 111 Iraqi professional immigrants residing in the U.S. We hypothesized that Iraqi refugees would report lower employment and worse self-rated health as compared to Iraqi immigrants. Logistic Regression was used to test various models. Results showed that more immigrants were employed, as well as employed in their original profession as compared to refugees. Regardless of immigration status, participants' age and the way they rated their job played a larger role in health. The study is the first to demonstrate that, controlling for professional, ethnic and cultural background, there are unknown mechanisms resulting in lower employment and skilled employment in refugees as compared to matched immigrant controls. Furthermore, satisfaction with the new work appears more important than employment per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences Division of Occupational & Environmental Health Wayne State University School of Medicine & International Society of Iraqi Scientists 3939 Woodward Ave. 3rd. Floor Detroit, MI 48201.
authors.forename: Hikmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jamil
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology University of Detroit Mercy 4001 W. McNichols Road Detroit, MI 48221.
authors.forename: Abir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aldhalimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences Division of Occupational & Environmental Health Wayne State University & Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bengt B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Arnetz
keywords: Employment; Immigrants; Refugees; Stress; Work Satisfaction