Examining the well-being of Ukrainian female migrant workers in Italy: Age perspective

Scientific data on the impact of work immigration on well-being is particularly limited for women migrant workers from Eastern European countries. The current study aimed to assess well-being, psychological distress, and acculturative stress in Ukrainian migrant women of different ages who worked as caregivers or in cleaning services. Women were recruited with the purposive sampling procedure at public places in Italy from November 2018 to February 2019 (N = 200). They were assessed with the following scales: The Life Satisfaction Scale, Mental Health Continuum Short Form, The Brief Symptom Inventory 18, and The Acculturative Stress Scale. The sample was divided into three age groups (young, middle-aged and older) and three mental health groups (languishing, moderate and flourishing). Findings showed that younger women experienced more well-being, and had higher scores on the overall mental health continuum score and lower scores on homesickness and acculturative stress compared to middle-aged and older women. Ukrainian young women were more likely to flourish while working in Italy than middle-aged and older women. Flourishing women reported the lowest level of clinically significant scores on depression, anxiety, somatization, and acculturative stress. This study showed how well-being provided protection in the face of psychological distress and acculturative stress in a sample of Ukraine migrant women.