Hostile and Harmful: Structural Stigma and Minority Stress Explain Increased Anxiety Among Migrants Living in the United Kingdom After the Brexit Referendum

Objective: The extent to which the outcome of the European Union referendum (”Brexit”) has affected the mental health of migrants living in the United Kingdom has been the subject of much speculation. However, no empirical attempts to examine the mental health impact of the Brexit vote have been made. Through the combination of structural stigma and minority stress theories, this study examined the extent to which the outcome of the Brexit referendum was associated with the mental health of migrants in the United Kingdom as a result of increased discrimination. Method: Adult migrants living in the United Kingdom (N = 311) participated in a longitudinal survey containing measures of discrimination and symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) at baseline and at 1-month and 6-month follow-ups. Participant data were matched to official voting records at the electorate level. Results: The percentage of “leave” voters where participants lived was associated with increased discrimination, which was in turn associated with increased GAD symptoms, including the likelihood of experiencing clinically significant GAD symptoms over the course of the study (OR = 3.01, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.25, 7.33]). The percentage of leave voters where participants lived was associated with increased GAD symptoms indirectly via increased discrimination (standardized indirect effect = .12; 95% bias-corrected CI (.07, .19]). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that voter referenda can have a detrimental impact on migrants' mental health. Findings illustrate how aspects of structural stigma can produce experiences of minority stress, which can lead to negative mental health outcomes for members of marginalized populations.