Norway: Muslim youth mentally healthier than other immigrants

There are differences in mental health according to nationality and sex, shows a study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), based on UNGHUBRO data. This clashes with the assumption that immigrant youth generally have a higher risk of developing mental illness compared with other youth living in the country, says Brit Oppedal of the FHI.

Norwegian youth who have parents who come from countries where Islam is the majority religion, aren't different from ethnic Norwegian youth when it comes to "introverted" mental problems like anxiety and depression, and day-to-day functioning. This according to a study from the FHI by Brit Oppedal, who works at the division for mental health. The study uses data from a FHI study among youth in Oslo, UNGHUBRO (2000 – 2001), which studied over 7,300 youth in 10th grade.

Youth with parents from countries where Islam is the majority religion reported, as a group, fewer mental illnesses compared with other immigrant youth from other non-Western countries.

Oppedal says that they do not know what causes those differences, but points out the important resources within the family network can be meaningful for the youth's mental health.

For example, few of these youth's parents were divorced. Corresponding to theories about family structure and teamwork in collectivist cultures, these youth also had fewer conflicts with their parents, and the parents follow up better on what the youth do outside the home. Studies have shown that such a relationship protects against mental illness, says Oppedal.

Oppedal looked closely at youth whose parents came from four countries: Pakistan, Turkey, Somalia and Iran. In these countries Islam is the majority religion. The analysis shows that girls with parents from Islam reported the most symptoms of anxiety and depression. They also reported more conflicts with their parents, more school problems, less support from the class and that the parents cared less what they did during their free time, then parents of other national groups.

In all the youth groups more girls reports symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with boys, which is typical for this age group, according to Oppedal. Among girls, those with parents from Pakistan reported they were better able to master their own ethnic culture and identity, and also more competent in mastering the Norwegian culture, than girls from the three other national groups.

Studies from other countries show large variations in mental adjustment between immigrant youth with background in different countries.

For boys there were few differeinces in risk and resources in connection to mental functioning. However, what diffrentiated between them was their faith in their own capabilities. Boys with parents from Somalia had the most faith in their own capabilities to master different situations, while boys with parents from Iran, as the least faith in their own abilities.

Oppedal says that their finds indicated that children who come from countries with war and conflicts, or who have parents who have grown up in such a country, don't necessarily have an increased general risk of mental illness. The results remind us that even if groups have important areas of similarities, there can be cultural differences between them which can contribute to differences in mental functioning or mental health. She says however that you must be careful in making conclusions about which national groups are vulnerable, based on just one study. If the results of the study will be used as the basis for health or family policies, there should be further assurances that they really reflect reality, she stresses.

She points out that the data from UNGHUBRO was collected before 9/11. Opposition to Muslims has increased since then, and we know from other studies that the events of and after 9/11 had big consequences for Muslim's youth experience of their own identity, says Oppedal.

Source: FHI (Norwegian)

See also: Brit Oppedal & Espen Røysamb. (2007). Young Muslim Immigrants in Norway: An Epidemiological Study of Their Psychosocial Adaptation and Internalizing Problems. Applied Development Science 11, 112–125. ( LEA Online)

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