Mental health problems among migrant laborers in India

Yadav, Sangeeta, Priya, Kumar Ravi and Sinha, Arvind K. (2025) Mental health problems among migrant laborers in India. Social Change. ISSN 0049-0857 (In Press)

[thumbnail of yadav-et-al-2025-mental-health-problems-among-migrant-labourers-in-india.pdf] Text
yadav-et-al-2025-mental-health-problems-among-migrant-labourers-in-india.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (383kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

One of the severely marginalised internal migrant populations in India has been the migrant labourers who not only face the challenges of acculturation but also experience acute powerlessness. They work within the unorganised sectors and are often denied employment opportunities and social security. The socioculturally induced distress makes them more prone to develop mental health-related problems and creates greater health disparities. To design an appropriate community-level intervention, it is crucial to accurately capture the symptoms experienced by a particular community. Hence, the current work explores the impact of migration on the mental health of migrant labourers in India. The data were collected with the help of an epidemiological survey on 234 unskilled migrant labourers and analysed using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Findings indicate that 47.9 per cent migrant labourers experienced mental health related issues, among whom female participants reported more symptoms of mental health related problems. Further, acculturative stress, experience of discrimination, and living constraints emerged as risk factors in the study. The findings indicate an alarming situation where the mental health of the migrant community flags the need to design appropriate community-based interventions to reduce health-related inequalities.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Migration | India | migrant labourers | mental health
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Psychology > Clinical Psychology
Social Sciences and humanities > Psychology > General Psychology
Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Social Sciences (General)
JGU School/Centre: Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling
Depositing User: Dharmveer Modi
Date Deposited: 11 Feb 2025 12:55
Last Modified: 11 Feb 2025 12:55
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00490857241307211
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/9114

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item