Kontakt 2023, 25(2):153-161 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2023.016

Mental health of internal migrantsSocial Sciences in Health - Review article

Erika Melonashi
European University of Tirana, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Liberal Arts, Tirana, Albania

Human beings are increasingly becoming an urban species, mainly due to internal migration processes. The internal migrant status exposes the individual to a complex interplay between risk and protective factors, producing differential mental health outcomes. This review aims to provide an understanding of individual and environmental variables which might act as risk or protective factors to internal migrants' mental health. The search process was conducted from October 2022 to December 2022 across two databases: JSTOR and Google Scholar. The study followed PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. 32 studies met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently considered for the review. Individual level variables influencing mental health included gender, age, education, socio-economic status, personality traits and physical health. Environmental variables included urbanicity/neighbourhood characteristics, discrimination, social support, and specific socio-cultural variables. Both groups of variables interplay in complex ways, either in the roles of risk or protective factors resulting in differential mental health outcomes for individuals. Limitations included the geographical distribution of studies, the broad definition of mental health, and the great variation in socio-cultural contexts. The findings of the review suggest a need for future research on internal migration and mental health, particularly in countries where this phenomenon is most prominent.

Keywords: Environmental factors; Individual factors; Internal migration; Mental health
Conflicts of interest:

The author has no conflict of interests to declare.

Received: January 30, 2023; Revised: April 10, 2023; Accepted: May 2, 2023; Prepublished online: May 30, 2023; Published: June 26, 2023  Show citation

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Melonashi E. Mental health of internal migrants. Kontakt. 2023;25(2):153-161. doi: 10.32725/kont.2023.016.
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