Mental health difficulties and suicidal behaviours among young migrants: multicentre study of European adolescents

Elaine M McMahon; Paul Corcoran; Helen Keeley; Mary Cannon; Vladimir Carli; Camilla Wasserman; Marco Sarchiapone; Alan Apter; Judit Balazs; Raphaela Banzer; Julio Bobes; Romuald Brunner; Doina Cozman; Christian Haring; Michael Kaess; Jean-Pierre Kahn; Agnes Kereszteny; Ursa Mars Bitenc; Bogdan Nemes; Vita Poštuvan; Pilar A Sáiz; Merike Sisask; Alexandra Tubiana; Peeter Värnik; Christina W Hoven; Danuta Wasserman

doi:10.1192/bjpo.bp.117.005322

Mental health difficulties and suicidal behaviours among young migrants: multicentre study of European adolescents

BJPsych Open. 2017 Nov 30;3(6):291-299. doi: 10.1192/bjpo.bp.117.005322. eCollection 2017 Nov.

Authors

Elaine M McMahon¹, Paul Corcoran¹, Helen Keeley², Mary Cannon³, Vladimir Carli⁴, Camilla Wasserman⁵, Marco Sarchiapone⁶, Alan Apter⁷, Judit Balazs⁸, Raphaela Banzer⁹, Julio Bobes¹⁰, Romuald Brunner¹¹, Doina Cozman¹², Christian Haring¹³, Michael Kaess¹⁴, Jean-Pierre Kahn¹⁵, Agnes Kereszteny¹⁶, Ursa Mars Bitenc¹⁷, Bogdan Nemes¹², Vita Poštuvan¹⁸, Pilar A Sáiz¹⁰, Merike Sisask¹⁹, Alexandra Tubiana²⁰, Peeter Värnik²¹, Christina W Hoven²², Danuta Wasserman⁴

Affiliations

¹ , PhD, National Suicide Research Foundation, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
² , MD, MRCPsych, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Health Service Executive, Cork, Ireland.
³ , PhD, FRCPsych, Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ , MD, PhD, National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ , PhD, National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health (NASP), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA.
⁶ , MD, PhD, Department of Medicine and Health Science, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy; National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty, Rome, Italy.
⁷ , MD, Schneider Children's Medical Centre of Israel, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
⁸ , MD, PhD, Vadaskert Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hospital, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁹ , MSc, Addiction Help Services B.I.N., Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁰ , MD, PhD, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental - CIBERSAM, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
¹¹ , MD, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
¹² , MD, PhD, Clinical Psychology Department, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
¹³ , MD, MSc, Department Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tirol Kliniken, Hospital Hall in Tyrol, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁴ , MD, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre of Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
¹⁵ , MD, PhD, University of Lorraine, Nancy, France and Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy, Nancy, France; Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Centre Psychothérapique de Nancy, Nancy, France.
¹⁶ , MA, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Doctoral School of Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁷ , BSc, Slovene Centre for Suicide Research, Andrej Marusic Institute, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia.
¹⁸ , PhD, Slovene Centre for Suicide Research, Andrej Marusic Institute, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia.
¹⁹ , PhD, Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute (ERSI), Tallinn, Estonia; School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.
²⁰ , MA, Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Centre Psychothérapique de Nancy, Nancy, France.
²¹ , PhD, Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute (ERSI), Tallinn, Estonia.
²² , DrPh, MPH, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.

Abstract

Background: Migration has been reported to be associated with higher prevalence of mental disorders and suicidal behaviour.

Aims: To examine the prevalence of emotional and behavioural difficulties, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among migrant adolescents and their non-migrant peers.

Method: A school-based survey was completed by 11 057 European adolescents as part of the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE) study.

Results: A previous suicide attempt was reported by 386 (3.6%) adolescents. Compared with non-migrants, first-generation migrants had an elevated prevalence of suicide attempts (odds ratio (OR) 2.08; 95% CI 1.32-3.26; P=0.001 for European migrants and OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.06-3.27; P=0.031 for non-European migrants) and significantly higher levels of peer difficulties. Highest levels of conduct and hyperactivity problems were found among migrants of non-European origin.

Conclusions: Appropriate mental health services and school-based supports are required to meet the complex needs of migrant adolescents.

Declaration of interest: None.

Copyright and usage: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.