Depressive symptoms in first-and second-generation migrants: A cross-sectional study of a multi-ethnic working population

Abstract

Migrants in Europe may suffer from depression more often than the native-born population of the particular host country. Reports about the prevalence of depression in migrants are, however, heterogeneous and the possible causes are the subject of controversial discussion. The aims of this study are to determine the incidence of depressiveness in a large multi-ethnic working population with and without a history of migration, and to investigate possible connections with migration status and acculturation criteria. The cross-sectional study asked 7062 employees of a university hospital to complete a self-rating questionnaire concerning socio-demographic data, migration status and indicators of acculturation. Depressiveness was assessed by means of the German version of the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The response rate was 41.7% (N = 2932); 14.9% of the participants (n = 419) reported a history of migration, 275 (65.8%) of whom were first-generation (M1) and 143 (34.2%) second-generation (M2) migrants. According to the CES-D scores, 8.7% of non-migrants (n = 207) suffered from clinically relevant depressive symptoms, compared to 16% (n = 44) of the M1 group (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.44-3.04, p < .001) and 14% (n = 20) in M2 (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.01-2.79, p = .048). Taking gender into consideration revealed that only the female migrants showed a statistically significant increased rate of depressiveness (χ (2) = 16.68, p < .001). Our results suggest that first- and second-generation female migrants are more likely to suffer from depressiveness than non-migrant females. In this model a history of migration is shown to be an independent risk factor for depressiveness.