Table 1 Characteristics of the study participants
| Iraqi (N = 219) | Somali (N = 198) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Age, years (mean [SD]) | 39.32 (8.45) | 37.94 (5.84) | 0.069 |
| Marital status, N (%) | |||
|
Married Divorced Separated Widowed |
206 (94.06) 2 (0.91) 10 (4.57) 1 (0.46) |
185 (94.39) 8 (4.04) 3 (1.52) 0 (0.00) | 0.888 |
| Language spoken most often | |||
|
Somali Arabic Chaldean English Other |
0 (0.00) 74 (33.79) 139 (63.47) 0 (0.00) 5 (2.28) |
186 (93.94) 0 (0.00) 0 (0.00) 3 (1.52) 7 (3.54) | – |
| Religion | |||
|
Muslim Catholic Other |
32 (14.61) 178 (81.28) 9 (4.11) |
197 (99.49) 0 (0.00) 1 (0.51) | – |
| Educational level | |||
|
No schooling/Elementary school Middle school or above |
37 (16.89) 182 (83.11) |
83 (41.92) 115 (58.08) | < 0.001 |
| Resettlement characteristics | |||
| Time prior to Resettlement, years (mean [SD]) | 2.37 (2.75) | 6.84 (5.94) | < 0.001 |
| Number of relocations | |||
|
0 (directly to US) 1 (directly from refugee camp) 2+ |
17 (7.80) 181 (83.03) 20 (9.17) |
6 (3.03) 182 (91.92) 11 (5.56) | 0.030 |
| Years in the USA | 3.21 (1.50) | 13.72 (5.62) | < 0.001 |
| Perception of social and financial status | |||
| Change in social status from country of origin to USA (mean [SD])a | 0.33 (3.81) | 3.53 (1.76) | < 0.001b |
| Financial status change | |||
|
Better About the same Worse |
43 (19.63) 41 (18.72) 135 (61.64) |
72 (36.36) 61 (30.81) 65 (32.83) | < 0.001 |
| Ability to meet financial needs | |||
|
Very well Fairly well Poorly |
2 (0.91) 110 (50.23) 107 (48.86) |
12 (6.06) 96 (48.48) 90 (45.45) | 0.014 |