Effectiveness of peer support to reduce depression, anxiety and stress among migrant construction workers in Singapore
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 18 July 2022
Issue publication date: 28 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of promoting peer support to reduce depression, anxiety and stress among migrant construction workers in Singapore.
Design/methodology/approach
This longitudinal study drew participants from migrant workers of various nationalities in the construction sector in Singapore. Baseline data pertaining to depression, anxiety and stress was established using the DASS-21 questionnaire, and salient covariates such as demographic factors and work environment factors recorded using suitable questionnaires. Intervention was training of participants on peer support techniques, supplemented by episodic support by trained counsellors. At the end of 6 months, DASS-21 was again deployed to obtain the post-results. Comparison of baseline with post-results data was performed to evaluate effectiveness of the peer support intervention.
Findings
Statistically significant reduction was observed in measures of all the three parameters studied, namely, depression, anxiety and stress. A decrease of 3.3 (95% CI:2.3 to 4.3) points in mean depression score, a decrease of 2.6 (95% CI: 1.6 to 3.7) points in mean anxiety score and a decrease of 2.7 (with 95% CI: 1.6 to 4.0) points in mean stress scores on the DASS-21 scale were recorded. Conclusions: Peer support is effective in improving mental health of migrant workers in the construction sector in Singapore. This intervention should be considered among other measures to improve their welfare.
Originality/value
This is the first paper that talks about the mental health of migrant workers pre-COVID and hence would be a strong paper for the future comparative studies for pre-and post-COVID periods. This is the first paper that addresses the benefits of peer-support among migrant workers to improve their mental wellbeing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the UON Singapore’s Small Research Project Grant 2019 (grant number: UONS_SRPG_1906). The authors would like to thank JTC for helping to recruit suitable construction sites for the study and the authors are deeply indebted to the volunteers and research team from HealthServe who helped with the data collection and also in the training of the migrant workers to peer support each other. Last but not the least, the authors would like to express their gratitude to the management, supervisors and workers of the various construction sites that took part in this study, without whom this would not have been possible.
Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Citation
Palaniappan, K., Rajaraman, N. and Ghosh, S. (2023), "Effectiveness of peer support to reduce depression, anxiety and stress among migrant construction workers in Singapore", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 4867-4880. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-03-2022-0269
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited