The Health Risk Behavior of Myanmar Migrant Workers in Mae Sot, Tak, Thailand: A Path Analysis Study of The Influences of Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Coping Styles

Abstract

This study was conducted in November, 2011, to investigate the influence of Myanmar migrant workers’ level of depression, anxiety and stress on their practice of certain health risk behaviors, both directly and indirectly, being mediated by their coping styles. The sample consisted of 300 Myanmar migrant workers in Mae Sot, Tak and who volunteered to fill in the study’s questionnaire. The results obtained showed that these migrants reported (1) low level of depression, anxiety and stress (2) were more likely to employ problem-focused coping than emotion-focused coping when dealing with stressful situation in their life (3) their depression anxiety, stress were positively associated with their practice of health risk behaviors such as smoking, betel quid chewing, drug using, and suicidal ideation. The implications of the findings with regard to how Myanmar migrant workers in Mae Sot cope with their depression, anxiety, stress in their daily life is discussed.