Migration, ethnicity and mental health: evidence from mothers participating in the Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

ObjectivesOver a quarter of UK births are to women who were born outside of the UK. Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women are disproportionately affected by poor mental health and inequitable access to mental healthcare in the perinatal period, yet the influence of migrant status (mothers' UK vs. non-UK birth) is poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the relationship between ethnicity, migration and mental health indicators among mothers participating in a large nationally representative cohort study. Study designSecondary analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study. MethodsLogistic regression quantified the crude and adjusted effects of self-reported ethnicity and migrant status on prevalence of psychological distress and treatment for anxiety/depression at 9-months and 5-years post-partum. ResultsWe found substantial variation in the prevalence of distress according to ethnicity and migrant status, with Indian and Pakistani women at greatest risk. Despite equal or greater risk, BME and migrant women were less likely to report treatment for anxiety/depression. Mutually-adjusted analyses showed ethnicity to be a stronger predictor of both outcomes than migrant status; however, at 5-years, being a migrant independently predicted lower odds of treatment, for a statistically similar level of distress. ConclusionsMigrant women are likely to be at high risk of poor mental health in the perinatal period and beyond, yet may face significant barriers to accessing mental healthcare. A better understanding of ethnicity and migration as interrelated risk factors for perinatal mental illhealth is needed to help NHS organisations develop policy and practice that is flexible and responsive to diversity.

Language Proficiency and Migrant–Native Disparities in Postpartum Depressive Symptoms

“…This effect was found to be significantly stronger for mental health than for physical health contexts [ 32 ]. In addition, limited local language ability, which can add up to limited comprehension of medical terminologies, has been shown to be associated with feelings of discrimination and reduced mental health services access and use [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. These are some of the indirect pathways that lack of language proficiency could be contributing to increasing the burden of undetected, untreated PPDS among migrants.…”

Supporting women who develop poor postnatal mental health: what support do fathers receive to support their partner and their own mental health?

“…While there is some evidence about maternal mental health according to ethnicity e.g. [26], similar research for fathers is lacking.…”

Personen mit Migrationshintergrund in der NAKO Gesundheitsstudie – soziodemografische Merkmale und Vergleiche mit der autochthonen deutschen Bevölkerung

“…Studien zur gesundheitlichen Versorgung der türkeistämmigen Personen sind zahlreicher [27][28][29][30][31]. Gesundheit dargestellt, lassen sich auch in der NAKO Krankheitshäufigkeiten nach Herkunftsregionen aufschlüsseln [32,33]. Der Anteil von 16,0 % PmM in der NAKO ist vergleichbar mit dem Anteil in der Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland (DEGS1 des Robert Koch-Instituts) (RKI) (ungewichtet 14,2 %), wobei für die NAKO noch keine statistischen Korrekturen vorgenommen wurden [13].…”