Abstract
Aims: Few studies have examined how the settlement experiences of migrant parents might impact on the downstream adult health of second-generation minority ethnic children. We used prospective data to establish if childhood adversity relating to the settlement experiences of Irish-born parents might account for downstream adverse health-related behaviours in second-generation Irish respondents in adulthood. Design, setting and participants: Cohort data from the National Child Development Study, comprising 17 000 births from a single week in 1958, from Britain, were analysed. Respondents were followed to mid-life. Dependent variables were alcohol and tobacco use. The contribution of life-course experiences in accounting for health-related behaviours was examined. Findings: Relative to the rest of the cohort, the prevalence of harmful/hazardous alcohol use was elevated in early adulthood for second-generation men and women, although it reduced by age 42. Second-generation Irish men were more likely to report binge alcohol use (odds ratio 1.45; 95% confidence interval 0.99, 2.11; P = 0.05), and second-generation Irish women were more likely to smoke (odds ratio 1.67; 95% confidence interval 1.23, 2.23; P = 0.001), at mid-life. Childhood disadvantage partially mediated associations between second-generation Irish status and mid-life alcohol and tobacco use, although these were modest for associations with smoking in Irish women. Conclusions: The findings suggest mechanisms for the intergenerational ‘transmission’ of health disadvantage in migrant groups, across generations. More attention needs to focus on the public health legacy of inequalities transferring from one migrant generation to the next.
Highlights
The ethnic minority population in Britain stood at 9.1 million from 2001 to 2009, of which a sizeable proportion reflected a growing British-born ethnic minority population.[1]
Both second-generation Irish men and women were more likely to report hazardous alcohol use relative to the rest of the cohort at age 33, this risk diminished by mid-life
At age 44/45, there were few differences between Irish men and women and the rest of the cohort on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) cut-offs, second-generation Irish men were more likely to report that they had binge drunk within the previous month relative to men in the rest of the cohort [odds ratio (OR) 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99, 2.11; P = 0.05]
Summary
The ethnic minority population in Britain stood at 9.1 million from 2001 to 2009, of which a sizeable proportion reflected a growing British-born ethnic minority population.[1] Much of the literature on health inequalities in minority ethnic groups has focused on first-generation migrants, with scant research on the health of second/later-generation minority ethnic groups. Irish people living in Britain, of either first-, second- or thirdgeneration Irish descent, constitute 11% of the population (approximately 6 million people).[4] Despite this, the health needs of Irish people have been relatively neglected.[4] Irish people living in Britain experience elevated mortality[5] and physical as well as psychological morbidity,[6,7,8] relative to the rest of the population. This has been noted in the first generation and has persisted into the second, despite improvements in socioeconomic position.[5,6,8]
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