Mental health and mental health help-seeking behaviors among first-generation voluntary African migrants : A systematic review

Journal article


Botchway-Commey, Edith N., Adonteng-Kissi, Obed, Meribe, Nnaemeka, Chisanga, David, Moustafa, Ahmed A., Tembo, Agness, Baffour, Frank Darkwa, Gatwiri, Kathomi, Doyle, Aunty Kerrie, Mwanri, Lillian and Levi Osuagwu, Uchechukwu. (2024). Mental health and mental health help-seeking behaviors among first-generation voluntary African migrants : A systematic review. PLoS ONE. 19(3), p. Article e0298634. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298634
AuthorsBotchway-Commey, Edith N., Adonteng-Kissi, Obed, Meribe, Nnaemeka, Chisanga, David, Moustafa, Ahmed A., Tembo, Agness, Baffour, Frank Darkwa, Gatwiri, Kathomi, Doyle, Aunty Kerrie, Mwanri, Lillian and Levi Osuagwu, Uchechukwu
Abstract

Purpose
Mental health challenges are highly prevalent in African migrants. However, understanding of mental health outcomes in first-generation voluntary African migrants is limited, despite the unique challenges faced by this migrant subgroup. This review aimed to synthesize the literature to understand the mental health challenges, help-seeking behavior, and the relationship between mental health and mental health help-seeking behavior in first-generation voluntary African migrants living outside Africa.

Methods
Medline Complete, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, and APA PsychINFO were searched for studies published between January 2012 to December 2023. Retrieved articles were processed, data from selected articles were extracted and synthesized to address the study aims, and included studies were evaluated for risk of bias.

Results
Eight studies were included, including four quantitative and four qualitative studies, which focused on women with postnatal depression. Mental health challenges reported in the quantitative studies were depression, interpersonal disorders, and work-related stress. Risk (e.g., neglect from health professionals and lack of social/spousal support) and protective (e.g., sensitivity of community services and faith) factors associated with mental health were identified. Barriers (e.g., cultural beliefs about mental health and racial discrimination) and facilitators (sensitizing African women about mental health) of mental health help-seeking behavior were also identified. No significant relationship was reported between mental health and mental health help-seeking behavior, and the risk of bias results indicated some methodological flaws in the studies.

Conclusion
This review shows the dearth of research focusing on mental health and help-seeking behavior in this subgroup of African migrants. The findings highlight the importance of African migrants, especially mothers with newborns, examining cultural beliefs that may impact their mental health and willingness to seek help. Receiving countries should also strive to understand the needs of first-generation voluntary African migrants living abroad and offer mental health support that is patient-centered and culturally sensitive.

Year2024
JournalPLoS ONE
Journal citation19 (3), p. Article e0298634
PublisherPublic Library of Science
ISSN1932-6203
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298634
PubMed ID38498578
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85188172400
PubMed Central IDPMC10947684
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Page range1-20
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online18 Mar 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted27 Jan 2024
Deposited02 Jul 2025
Additional information

© 2024 Botchway-Commey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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