Acculturation and Psychiatric Morbidity Among Cambodian Refugees in New Zealand

Abstract

A community survey examining the relationship between acculturation and minor psychiatric morbidity among 223 Cambodians living in Dunedin, New Zealand was conducted. Most subjects would like to retain their parent culture but would also like to assimilate into the host culture, indicating a preference for an integrated mode of acculturation. Those who were older, widowed, less educated, had shorter duration of stay in New Zealand, and of lower socioeconomic status, were less acculturated. Overall, the least acculturated were found to have the highest rate of psychiatric morbidity. When age and sex were controlled, the association between acculturation and psychiatric morbidity remained significant only for women aged 31 to 50. Overall, the associations between psychiatric morbidity and acculturation held true for marital status, duration of stay in N.Z., educational level, and socioeconomic status. The relevant conceptual and methodological issues in acculturation studies were discussed.