The impact of immigration and visible minority status on psychosis symptom profile

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Vol. 49; no. 11; pp. 1747 - 1757
• Main Authors: Berg, Akiah Ottesen, Andreassen, Ole A., Aminoff, Sofie Ragnhild, Romm, Kristin Lie, Hauff, Edvard, Melle, Ingrid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Bipolar disorder; Clinical medicine; Delusions - diagnosis; Delusions - psychology; Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology; Epidemiology; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Hypotheses; Immigrants; Immigration; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health; Migration; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups - psychology; Original Paper; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Psychosis; Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; R&D; Research & development; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenic Psychology; Symptom Assessment; Young Adult; Netherlands; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Norway; Visible minority; Psychosis; Immigration; Schizophrenia; Ethnic minority; Symptoms; Human; Immigrant; Social group; Mental health; Clinical form; Ethnic group; Social status; Symptomatology; Minority; Public health
• ISSN: 0933-7954; 1433-9285
• DOI: 10.1007/s00127-014-0897-x

Purpose Immigrants have heightened risks of psychotic disorders, and it is proposed that migration influences symptom profiles. The purpose of this study was to investigate if either migration experience and/or visible minority status affected symptom profiles, using a cross-culturally validated five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), in patients with broadly defined psychotic disorders. Methods PANSS was assessed in a large catchment area based sample of patients with psychotic disorders verified with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV ( n  = 1,081). Symptom profiles based on Wallwork et al. five-factor model were compared for Norwegians (73 %), white immigrants (10.5 %), and visible minority groups (16.5 %). Results Visible minorities were significantly younger, had less education, more often a schizophrenia diagnosis and higher PANSS positive, negative and disorganized/concrete factor scores than Norwegians and white immigrants. After controlling for confounders only the items “Delusions” and “Difficulty in abstract thinking” differed between groups. Multivariate analyses indicated that these items were not associated with immigration per se, but rather belonging to a visible minority. Conclusion We found mostly similarities in psychotic symptoms between immigrants and Norwegians when using a cross-culturally validated five-factor model of the PANSS. Immigration did not directly influence psychotic symptom profiles but visible minority groups had higher levels of “Delusions” and “Difficulty in abstract thinking”, both symptoms that are partially context dependent.