Migration background in Austria – potential risk for mental health?

Abstract

As a result of globalization and war in Islamic countries Austria has become a multicultural country in which approximately 16% of the population are migrants. This ethnic diversity not only provides valuable resources and opportunities, but also challenges. Many studies indicate that there is an increased prevalence of mental disorders among migrants.

The aim of the present study is to determine whether the migration background of children and adolescents in Austria is seen as a risk or a resource or if other factors contribute significantly to the development of mental disorders.

The data is extracted from the two Sigmund Freud University (SFU) Children and Adolescent Outpatient Clinics in Vienna. It contains not only information about biographic backgrounds but also the ICD-10 diagnosis of 3,222 children and adolescents aged 3-17 years. Out of this sample, 796 persons have a migration background. Predictors included in a logistic regression model are age, sex, mother tongue, father tongue, language spoken in family and family background.

Mental disorders were influenced by gender and age and had an impact on the main ICD-10 diagnosis. Results show that girls are more likely to be diagnosed with an F4 diagnosis and boys with F9. The study also revealed that Turkish children showed higher risk of an F9 diagnosis than children from Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Austria or Germany. Furthermore, a Turkish mother tongue revealed another risk factor leading to an F9 diagnosis.

The analysis suggests that children and adolescents with a migration background in Austria are no worse off in terms of their mental health than children with no migration background.

More work needs to be carried out on understanding the impact of migration and a migration background on the main ICD-10 diagnosis.

To the author’s knowledge, the present study is the first research project in Vienna conducted in an Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents to estimate the impact of children’s and adolescents’migration background on developing a mental disorder.