The Mental Health Status of Expatriate versus U.S. Domestic Workers: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Although a range of authors have suggested that the rates of mental health problems among expatriates are higher than their counterparts living at home, there has been no empirical examination of whether expatriates living overseas do, in fact, experience higher levels of risk for mental health problems. This study deployed a cross-sectional, two-group survey research design to compare the mental health status of an expatriate population to a domestic U.S. non-expatriate population. The two groups were separate and distinct U.S. based employers. A validated behavioral health screening tool, known as the GAIN-Short Screener, was used to rule out who has a behavioral health disorder and who does not in both the expatriate and non-expatriate groups. The study concludes that employees living and working as expatriates experience a higher range of risk for mental health and substance use disorders that exceeds their U.S. counterparts.