UWindsor researchers set out to assess resilience in immigrant and refugee youth but found a different problem: a lack of resources to address mental health issues among young newcomers to Canada.
"What I learned from the data is newcomer youth are really struggling, experiencing mental health challenges," says social work professor Jayashree Mohanty.
Along with fellow professors Jane Ku of sociology and Wansoo Park of social work, she led a team of graduate students interviewing more than 240 immigrant and refugee youth between 13 and 24 years old who have lived in the Windsor-Essex area for one to seven years.
"On average, we found mental health problems are about two-and-one-half times more prevalent in this population: emotional difficulties, conduct difficulties, and peer problems," Dr. Mohanty says.
Almost one-third of male and more than two-thirds of female respondents were determined to exhibit clinical mental health challenges.
These youths must be empowered to advocate for their own well-being, says Dr. Ku.
"Youth make the best decisions with the best understanding of their context, so service providers should be open to what they tell us about their adjustment," she says.
Mohanty notes that settlement agencies focus on helping newcomers integrate, providing language help, academic supports, after-school programs, and guidance counselling, and says the focus now should be on mental health support.
While there are services for them, there is still a long way to go in terms of mental health, she says. Positive mental and emotional health are a solid base for other developments such as academic achievement, resilience, and integration.
"We are not doing a good job of protecting them," she says. "If mental health is taken care of, their integration process will follow naturally."
These youth experience multiple risk factors, says Mohanty.
"They're coming to Canada from many different countries, where they may have experienced or witnessed violence, and now are adjusting to a new social environment where they may experience discrimination in their daily lives."
While those interviewed demonstrated great confidence in their capacity to thrive and determination to access resources, that resiliency often did not extend to the arena of mental health.
"Many youth don't know they have mental health issues," Mohanty says. "They struggle but they don't know how to talk about it."
Stigma against seeking assistance for mental health, she says, makes it doubly hard to address.
"We need to be creative in tailoring programs specifically for newcomer youth," says Mohanty. "Ideally, they can be integrated within the existing settlement programs run by community-based organizations."
Many of these agencies face challenges of their own, dealing with lack of financial, material resources, and staff. However, the problems must be met, Mohanty says.
"We have to start talking about integrating immigrant youth in a different way," she says. "They're going to be here, live in this country, work and raise their families in Canada. We have to explore what we as a society can do to make sure they do well."
Dr. Park adds that success will require collaboration across the entire community.
"School is integral to their adjustment," along with social service agencies, professional supports, suitable employment and housing, and peer groups.
