Mental Health of Cross-Cultural Healthcare Missionaries

Abstract

In this study of career healthcare missionaries (N = 393), 47.9% of female missionaries and 42.1% of male missionaries reported experiencing anxiety, while 32.5% of female missionaries and 27.5% of male missionaries reported experiencing depression. For both females and males, depression severity scores showed a bimodal distribution of more and less severe depression, suggesting a clearer delineation for mild and severe depression. Regression analyses found that low role satisfaction was associated with both anxiety (p = .006) and depression severity (p = .004). A model is proposed describing the relationship between role satisfaction and its correlates: job expectations prior to arriving on the field, receptivity of the host country, gender, and imbalance of work and ministry. This model also describes the bidirectional relationship between role satisfaction and the existence of depression and/or anxiety.