Funding outcome

Young people experience poorer mental health outcomes than older people. However, the results of studies on the mental health of immigrants versus non-immigrants is inconsistent. Some studies show that immigrants experience poorer mental health outcomes than non-immigrants; other studies suggest better mental health outcomes for immigrants; and some demonstrate that their mental health status is the same. Moreover, most studies on immigrant children have been focused on adolescents over the age of 12, and qualitative research on the topic is limited. There is a need to better understand the mental health of immigrant children in Canada. To fill the gap in this research, we will examine the mental health of immigrant and non-immigrant children in Canada by analyzing the Canadian Health Measures Survey, and we will contextualize our findings by conducting interviews with immigrant parents. Four cycles of the CHMS have been completed by Statistics Canada with over 22,000 immigrants. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire has been used to collect data on emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer relationship problems. We will focus our analysis on immigrant children age 6 to 17 years. We will analyze parents' reports of emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer relationship problems. Our analysis will consider age, age at migration, gender, country of birth, ethnicity, and household income. Upon completion of the analysis of the Canadian Health Measures Survey and ethics approval, we will conduct interviews with 20 to 30 immigrant parents to shed light on the results of the survey. We will strive for a balance between interviewing fathers and mothers as well as a balance between parents whose child has been diagnosed with a mental illness and those who have not. We will also try to interview a minimum of 10 refugee parents. We will use the results of the analysis of the Canadian Mental Health Survey to focus our qualitative interviews on the two ethnic groups that experience the highest problems with mental health. We will complete our analysis by identifying recurring ideas or patterns. Participants will receive the preliminary results of our study for verification. To ensure the usefulness of our study, we will disseminate our findings to policy makers, service providers, and immigrants through diverse strategies, including a report, a project website, and presentations to Alberta Human Services and members of the Edmonton Community Mental Health Action Plan and the Edmonton Local Immigrant Partnership. We will also present our results at three conferences and publish our results in three peer-reviewed journals.