ArticleGlobalization and health2023
"My young life, finished already?": a qualitative study of embedded social stressors and their effects on mental health of low-wage male migrant workers in Singapore.
Article in Globalization and health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strength and Vulnerability: A Qualitative Study of Mental Health and Unmitigated Communion Among Female Migrants in Southeast England.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The well-being toll of revealed involuntary immobility: a quantitative study.Globalization and health · 2026Article
- Addressing Migrant Worker Housing-From Structural Neglect to Strategic Policy Action.Safety and health at work · 2025Article
- Extending Healthier SG to Singapore's migrant workforce.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- Mental Health of Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Action in South Korea.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2025Review
- Involuntary immobility and well-being: a scoping review of existing literature and future research directions.Globalization and health · 2025Review
- Europe's Overlooked Health and Hygiene Issues in Migrant Worker Housing: A Call for Action.Safety and health at work · 2025Article
- Exacerbation model of cumulative adverse experiences: prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of self-harm and suicidality among Chinese migrant workers.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Understanding community-based mental health interventions among migrant workers in Singapore.Discover mental health · 2024Article
- Building a healthy migrant workforce in Singapore - A cross-sectional study to understand health-seeking behaviours of male migrant workers.Journal of migration and health · 2024Article
- The Impact of Stressors on Depressive Symptoms Among Youth Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Interventions to reduce social isolation and loneliness among minority ethnic populations in OECD countries: A scoping review.PloS one · 2024Article
- Brain Iron Homeostasis and Mental Disorders.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIncreasing evidence shows low-wage migrant workers experience a high prevalence of mental health disorders and adverse health outcomes. Significant disparities in health services usage among migrant workers create added vulnerability to health complications. However, much remains unclear about how vulnerabilities are constructed in migrant worker populations. Additionally, no studies in Singapore have attempted to critically examine the degree to which social environment and structures affect the health and wellbeing of migrant workers. Therefore, this study aimed to critically situate the socio-structural factors creating conditions of vulnerability among migrant workers using a social stress perspective.
methodsWe conducted semi-structured individual and group interviews with migrant workers focused on individual life experiences, community experiences (individual and collective social capital), health (mental and physical health concerns) and stress response behaviours. We used a grounded theory approach to identify sources of stress and stress responses and uncover pathways to social vulnerabilities.
resultsFindings from 21 individual and 2 group interviews revealed that migrant workers were embedded in a cycle of chronic stress driven by structural factors that were mutually reinforced by stressors arising from their social environment. Socio-structural stressors enacted as poor living, working and social conditions resulted in their negative quality-of-life appraisal. Stressors arising from being "foreign" resulted in anticipated stigma, concealment, and healthcare avoidance. These factors synergistically created a persistent mental health burden for migrant workers.
conclusionsFindings highlight the need to address the mental health burden placed on migrant workers and create avenues for migrant workers to seek psychosocial support to manage their stressors.
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