The increased frequency of natural disasters and rising rates of mental disorders have become significant concerns globally. This paper examines their interrelation within a particularly disadvantaged group—refugees—who often maintain close ties to their home countries and may therefore be indirectly affected by adverse events, including natural disasters. We specifically investigate the impact of home-country natural disasters on the mental health of refugees resettled in Australia, drawing on unique longitudinal data from more than 2,300 refugees tracked over six survey waves (2013–2023). Using a fixed-effects regression model, we find that refugees originating from countries experiencing natural disasters show higher scores on the Kessler-6 psychological distress scale, corresponding to an average increase of 0.019 standard deviations. Estimates by disaster type show that the effects are concentrated in floods, the most common disaster in our sample. We also explore the moderating role of community support, revealing that ethnic, religious, and other community supports significantly mitigate the adverse mental health impacts of disasters. These findings underscore the spatially-diffuse, networked impact of disasters and the importance of supportive networks and targeted mental health interventions in improving refugees’ integration into their host countries.
Tra et al. (Fri,) studied this question.