Physical and psychological health of first and second generation Turkish immigrants in Germany

Abstract

Recent studies in Germany suggest that first generation Turkish immigrants have lower mortality rates compared to native Germans. Conversely, studies examining morbidity, though not national in scope, have demonstrated that first generation Turks may have poorer health than native Germans. Additionally, little is known about the health of the emerging second generation Turkish population in Germany. To evaluate the discrepancy between mortality and morbidity trends and contribute to a better understanding of second generation Turkish immigrant health, this paper uses a nationally-representative dataset, including the 2005 German Gender and Generations Study (GGS) (n = 10,017) and the 2006 GGS Turkish supplement (n = 4,045), to assess three health outcomes: chronic illness, self-assessed health, and feelings of emptiness. The paper investigates whether sex, age, socioeconomic status, emotional support, or duration of residence in Germany predict these dimensions of health. Results establish clear health status differences between Turks and native Germans. Surprisingly, both first and second generation Turks tend to have lower chronic illness rates and rate their health as better than Germans at younger ages, but the advantage diminishes among higher age strata for the first generation. Feelings of emptiness results generally indicate an increased susceptibility to psychological problems for both generations of Turks. Controlling for socioeconomic status and age reduces these health differences modestly, pointing to their likely role as mediators. The relatively higher risks for all three health outcomes among Turkish females of both generations compared to their German counterparts suggest that female Turkish immigrants and their female offspring may be particularly vulnerable.

Is there an association between marital exogamy of immigrants and nonmigrants and their mental health? A two-partners approach

“…While it is generally understood that immigrants may benefit from new opportunities in the destination country, a number of studies have shown that migration is one of the most demanding events in life, as it is often associated with loss and can disrupt the life course (Kuo 1976;Bhugra 2004;Carta et al 2005). A number of studies have demonstrated that elderly migrants report having worse mental health than nonmigrants (Rosmond, Nilsson, and Björntorp 2000;Silveira et al 2002;Abbott et al 1999;Fokkema and Naderi 2013;Milewski and Doblhammer 2015) and that migrants' mental health decreases as their duration of stay increases (Wu and Schimmele 2005;Kotwal 2010).…”

Human neutrophil alloantigen genotype frequencies among blood donors with Turkish and German descent

“…However, there is a lack of data about the HNA antigen frequency in the Turkish population. As many as 1.71 million people in Germany have Turkish citizenship, and about 750,000 feature a German passport since 1990 (9). Thus, Germany is the country with the largest Turkish population behind Turkey (10).…”

Socioeconomic status and primary health service use for mental health problems among immigrants with short and long lengths of stay

“…Another study looking at Vietnamese immigrant women in the USA however, found no relationship between mental health and LoS (Brown et al, 2010). Further, among skilled workers in New Zealand and Turkish men (but not women) in Germany, mental health status appears to be positively related to LoS (Kotwal, 2010;Pernice et al, 2009). These studies suggest that LoS may not have the same relationship with mental health across all immigrant groups, perhaps due to the complexity of the migration experience, including acculturation.…”