The purpose of this study is to examine immigration stress among refugees resettled in Utah. Approximately 1200 refugees resettled in Utah each year. Although resettlement in the US provides safe living environments to refugees, resettlement can be also very stressful. It is necessary to enhance more studies on immigration stress among refugees in order to develop effective services to reduce immigration stress among refugees. Data have been collected using a self-administered survey in English or interviewer-administered survey in fall 2017. Participants are adults aged 18 years old or older. As of October 12, 2017, 117 refugees participated in this survey. Karen was the most common ethnicity among the participants (n=32, 27.4%) followed by Somali (n=26, 22.2%). Other ethnicities included, for example, Sudanese, Iraqi, Burmese, Liberian, Omani, and Tunisian. Approximately 36% of the participants felt they were treated as a foreigner by Americans. Twelve percent of the participants believed that American society discriminated them due to their ethnicity. About a quarter of the participants reported that they were losing their ethnic identity and/or feel sad when they did not see their cultural roots in this society. More than 40% of the participants had difficulty understanding English in some situations. To reduce stress among refugees resettled in the US, improving English proficiency, reducing discrimination, and keeping own ethnic identity are very important.
