Epidemiology of psychiatric morbidity among migrants compared to native born population in Spain: a controlled study

Abstract

Epidemiology of diagnostic-level psychiatric symptoms in primary care: A comparison of immigrants to native Spaniards. Abstract ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in different immigrant groups in Spain. In keeping with prior studies carried out in Europe, it is expected that the immigrant population will have elevated levels of psychopathology, with some variation across immigrant groups. Method ResultsNo differences in psychiatric morbidity were found (native born 30.9%, population vs. immigrants 29.6%, OR= .942, CI=.806-1.100) when comparing immigrants to native born Spaniards. Relative to Spaniards (30.9%), Latin American immigrants had significantly higher levels of psychopathology (36.8%), Sub-Saharan Africans (24.4%) and Asians (16%) had significantly lower levels, and Eastern Europeans (31.4%) and North Africans (26.8%) showed no significant difference. ConclusionsThe hypotheses were only partially supported. Although overall immigrants did not differ from the native born population, when analyzed by geographic origin, only Latin Americans had higher levels of psychopathology. It is concluded that multiple factors need to be taken into consideration when studying the mental health of immigrants given that different immigrant groups have different levels of psychopathology.

Gender Dysphoria and Social Anxiety: An Exploratory Study in Spain

“…22,23 This percentage also is higher than in a study carried out in a different Spanish region. 17 This finding is consistent with several studies indicating that the trans population exhibits high levels of anxiety symptoms, 48 particularly prior to sexual reassignment treatment, and according to these results social anxiety was very frequent in the population with gender dysphoria in this study.…”

“…21 Regarding the prevalence of current social anxiety disorder (SAD) (last 30 days) in studies of primary care patients within the general population, a prevalence between 2%e4.2% has been reported. 22,23 Epidemiological studies estimate a current prevalence of SAD (last 12 months) at around 5% (range 1.3%e9.1%). 24e27 SAD has been associated with different variable types in the general population: (1) socio-demographic variables such as being female, young age, employment status, low income, nationality, etc.…”

Epidemiology of substance abuse among migrants compared to native born population in primary care

“…There were differences in all sociodemographic variables (except for sex and age which were controlled). A more detailed account of sociodemographic characteristics of the sample can be seen elsewhere …”

“…At every primary health center, the immigrant's that fulfilled inclusion criteria were invited to participate until the required number stratified by ethnic, gender and age groups was met. More details can be found elsewhere …”

How Do Cultural Factors Influence the Teaching and Practice of Mindfulness and Compassion in Latin Countries?

“…However, although there are important cultural differences between them, there appear to be common perspectives with regard to their outlook on disease (see García-Campayo and Alda, 2005 and Qureshi et al, 2013 for a more detailed account of the health-relevant cultural inclinations referred to below): Importance of family: Latin families are usually large, communicate frequently among themselves, and regularly celebrate as a family unit. The family offers an important means of coping with health-related adversity.…”