SynthesisPloS one2024
Mental health and mental health help-seeking behaviors among first-generation voluntary African migrants: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Barriers in Accessing Postpartum Mental Health Care and Coping Strategies Among Migrant and Refugee Women With Postpartum Depression.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Profiles of clinical service use for suicide ideation and suicide attempts across Australian cultural and linguistic groups: a latent class analysis using data from the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2020-2022).Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Perceptions, Reporting, and Responses to Depression Among Black Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Review
- The relationship between perceived organizational support and presenteeism among pediatric nurses in China: professional identity plays a mediating role.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Stigma, culture, and mental health help-seeking among Black African immigrants in the United States: an integrative literature review.Cogent mental health · 2026Review
- Mental health help-seeking behavior among Ukrainian adults during the 2nd year of the 2022 Russian invasion: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Exploring the barriers to mental health help-seeking among African Migrants in Australia: A qualitative study.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Role of Stigma in Help-Seeking Strategies Among African Migrants in Australia: A Qualitative Study.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Psychological Distress Among US-Born and Non-US-Born Black or African American Adults in the US.JAMA network open · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 9 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMental 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.
methodsMedline 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.
resultsEight 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.
conclusionThis 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.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.