Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, May 8, 2021
Refugees experience distress from premigration trauma, often exacerbated by postmigration difficu... more Refugees experience distress from premigration trauma, often exacerbated by postmigration difficulties. To develop effective interventions, risk factors for mental health symptoms need to be determined. Male Iraqi refugees (n=53) to the US provided background information and reported pre-displacement trauma and psychological health within 1 month of their arrival. An inflammatory biomarker—C-reactive protein (CRP) was assessed approximately 1.5 years after arrival, and a contextual factor—acculturation—as well as psychological health were assessed 2 years after arrival. We tested whether acculturation and CRP were associated with PTSD and depression symptoms at 2-year follow-up, controlling for baseline symptoms, age, body-mass index, and pre-displacement trauma. Acculturation was inversely related to depression, and CRP was positively related to both PTSD and depression at 2-year follow-up. Interventions targeting acculturation could help reduce the development of depression symptoms in refugees. The role of CRP in the development of PTSD and depression symptoms warrants further research.
Compelling evidence proved that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects minorit... more Compelling evidence proved that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects minorities. The goal of the present study was to explore the effects of intersected discrimination and discrimination types on COVID-19, mental health, and cognition. A sample of 542 Iraqis, 55.7% females, age ranged from 18 to 73, with (M = 31.16, SD = 9.77). 48.7% were Muslims, and 51.3% were Christians (N = 278). We used measures for COVID-19 stressors, executive functions, intersected discrimination (gender discrimination, social groups-based discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and genocidal discrimination), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, status and death, existential anxieties, and health. We conducted independent samples t test between Muslims and Christians. We conducted hierarchical regression analyses using the Christian minority subsample to see if intersected discrimination is predictive of COVID-19 hospitalization. We conducted two-path analyses, one with intersected discrimination as an independent variable and the second with the different discrimination types as independent variables. Intersected discrimination predicted COVID-19 hospitalization. The primary discrimination type for Christians was genocidal discrimination. Christians had higher existential anxiety about status and death than Muslims. Intersected discrimination and discrimination types had a significant association with mental health, health, and cognition variables, with intersected discrimination, had a higher impact than each. Existential anxiety about the person's social and economic status was the critical outcome of intersected discrimination that trickles down to other variables. COVID-19 stressors had significant effects on depression, PTSD, generalized anxiety, and Status existential annihilation anxiety (EAA). COVID-19 hospitalization and stressors are associated with inhibition and working memory deficits. We discussed the conceptual and clinical implications of the results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Background: Asthma is an increasing worldwide health problem. The prevalence of asthma is highe... more Background: Asthma is an increasing worldwide health problem. The prevalence of asthma is higher in some ethnic minorities and lower in other ethnic groups. Environmental exposures, and psychosocial factors, have been suggested to be main mediators for asthma. Ethnicity related to racial background can influence the differences in asthma through the disease susceptible alleles. Objective: To evaluates environmental and cultural risk factors for asthma among different ethnic groups. Methods: Random sample of 337 Iraqi selected from 5,490 Iraqi residents’ in the Greater Detroit area. Validated questionnaire was used. Chi-square, t-test and logistic regression were used. Results: Results showed a significant difference in the prevalence of asthma among Chaldeans (0.7%) and Arabs (8.7%). However environmental and psychosocial exposures and socioeconomic status were not significantly associated with asthma in Arabs, nor Chaldeans. Conclusion: Even though Arabs and Chaldeans are from th...
Hookah is a tobacco product that is gaining popularity in the United States and other countries, ... more Hookah is a tobacco product that is gaining popularity in the United States and other countries, particularly among the youth. In this paper, we examine the perception of health risks of different types of tobacco use in comparison to hookah use among 671 participants respond to a survey conducted in Detroit Metropolitan Area, Michigan who never smoke or smoke “cigarette, hookah, both cigarette and hookah”; and determine whether smoking status influenced the perceived health risks of hookah smoking when compared to other forms of tobacco use. The survey had 43 questions including questions about demographics, socioeconomic status, health care, etc. All statistical analyses were done using SPSS version 22. This study found that 44.1% of the participants believed that hookah was less harmful than each of the other tobacco products studied. Approximately 26% of cigarette smokers are likely to smoke hookah also. These findings emphasize the importance of spreading awareness about the he...
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, May 8, 2021
Refugees experience distress from premigration trauma, often exacerbated by postmigration difficu... more Refugees experience distress from premigration trauma, often exacerbated by postmigration difficulties. To develop effective interventions, risk factors for mental health symptoms need to be determined. Male Iraqi refugees (n=53) to the US provided background information and reported pre-displacement trauma and psychological health within 1 month of their arrival. An inflammatory biomarker—C-reactive protein (CRP) was assessed approximately 1.5 years after arrival, and a contextual factor—acculturation—as well as psychological health were assessed 2 years after arrival. We tested whether acculturation and CRP were associated with PTSD and depression symptoms at 2-year follow-up, controlling for baseline symptoms, age, body-mass index, and pre-displacement trauma. Acculturation was inversely related to depression, and CRP was positively related to both PTSD and depression at 2-year follow-up. Interventions targeting acculturation could help reduce the development of depression symptoms in refugees. The role of CRP in the development of PTSD and depression symptoms warrants further research.
Compelling evidence proved that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects minorit... more Compelling evidence proved that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disproportionately affects minorities. The goal of the present study was to explore the effects of intersected discrimination and discrimination types on COVID-19, mental health, and cognition. A sample of 542 Iraqis, 55.7% females, age ranged from 18 to 73, with (M = 31.16, SD = 9.77). 48.7% were Muslims, and 51.3% were Christians (N = 278). We used measures for COVID-19 stressors, executive functions, intersected discrimination (gender discrimination, social groups-based discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and genocidal discrimination), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, status and death, existential anxieties, and health. We conducted independent samples t test between Muslims and Christians. We conducted hierarchical regression analyses using the Christian minority subsample to see if intersected discrimination is predictive of COVID-19 hospitalization. We conducted two-path analyses, one with intersected discrimination as an independent variable and the second with the different discrimination types as independent variables. Intersected discrimination predicted COVID-19 hospitalization. The primary discrimination type for Christians was genocidal discrimination. Christians had higher existential anxiety about status and death than Muslims. Intersected discrimination and discrimination types had a significant association with mental health, health, and cognition variables, with intersected discrimination, had a higher impact than each. Existential anxiety about the person's social and economic status was the critical outcome of intersected discrimination that trickles down to other variables. COVID-19 stressors had significant effects on depression, PTSD, generalized anxiety, and Status existential annihilation anxiety (EAA). COVID-19 hospitalization and stressors are associated with inhibition and working memory deficits. We discussed the conceptual and clinical implications of the results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Background: Asthma is an increasing worldwide health problem. The prevalence of asthma is highe... more Background: Asthma is an increasing worldwide health problem. The prevalence of asthma is higher in some ethnic minorities and lower in other ethnic groups. Environmental exposures, and psychosocial factors, have been suggested to be main mediators for asthma. Ethnicity related to racial background can influence the differences in asthma through the disease susceptible alleles. Objective: To evaluates environmental and cultural risk factors for asthma among different ethnic groups. Methods: Random sample of 337 Iraqi selected from 5,490 Iraqi residents’ in the Greater Detroit area. Validated questionnaire was used. Chi-square, t-test and logistic regression were used. Results: Results showed a significant difference in the prevalence of asthma among Chaldeans (0.7%) and Arabs (8.7%). However environmental and psychosocial exposures and socioeconomic status were not significantly associated with asthma in Arabs, nor Chaldeans. Conclusion: Even though Arabs and Chaldeans are from th...
Hookah is a tobacco product that is gaining popularity in the United States and other countries, ... more Hookah is a tobacco product that is gaining popularity in the United States and other countries, particularly among the youth. In this paper, we examine the perception of health risks of different types of tobacco use in comparison to hookah use among 671 participants respond to a survey conducted in Detroit Metropolitan Area, Michigan who never smoke or smoke “cigarette, hookah, both cigarette and hookah”; and determine whether smoking status influenced the perceived health risks of hookah smoking when compared to other forms of tobacco use. The survey had 43 questions including questions about demographics, socioeconomic status, health care, etc. All statistical analyses were done using SPSS version 22. This study found that 44.1% of the participants believed that hookah was less harmful than each of the other tobacco products studied. Approximately 26% of cigarette smokers are likely to smoke hookah also. These findings emphasize the importance of spreading awareness about the he...
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Papers by Hikmet Jamil