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Psychopathology and early life stress in migrant youths: an analysis of the ‘Growing up in Ireland’ study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2019

S. Cotter ,
C. Healy Open the ORCID record for C. Healy [Opens in a new window] ,
D. Ni Cathain ,
P. Williams ,
M. Clarke  and
M. Cannon
S. Cotter
Affiliation:
Queens University Medical School, University Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
C. Healy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
D. Ni Cathain
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
P. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
M. Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland Department of Psychology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
M. Cannon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Colm Healy, Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland. (Email: colmhealy@rcsi.com)
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Abstract

Objectives

Migrant youths endure many challenges. Such challenges can be stressful and lead to psychological difficulties. We investigated the relationship between migration, psychopathology and stressful events in children and adolescents. We hypothesised that migrant youths would show higher levels of psychopathology and more stressful life events than non-migrant youths.

Method

Using the Child cohort (Cohort ‘98) of the ‘Growing up in Ireland’ study we investigated psychopathology, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) at age 9 and 13 and stressful life events in migrant and non-migrant youths.

Results

There was no significant difference between the proportion of migrant and non-migrant youths reporting psychopathology in childhood (p>0.05) or adolescence (p>0.05). Analysis of the SDQ subscales revealed that a significantly greater proportion of migrant youths had hyperactivity problems in childhood (p = 0.04) but a greater proportion of non-migrant youths had emotional problems in early adolescence (p = 0.04). We found that migrant youths experienced significantly more stressful life events than their non-migrant counterparts (p<0.01), however, once ‘Moving house/country‘ was removed as a stressor, there was no difference between the groups (p>0.27).

Conclusions

Contrary to our hypothesis, we observed that there were few differences between migrant and non-migrant youths in the levels of psychopathology. Migrant youths experienced a greater number of stressful life events, however, this was attributable to stressors relating to moving. An increased understanding of the factors promoting resilience, as demonstrated by the migrant youths, could aid health professionals and policy makers to effectively tailor interventions for mental health promotion.

Keywords

Early life stressimmigrationmigrantspsychopathology
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 177 - 185
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2019 

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Footnotes

†

Joint First Authorship

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