Social environmental risk factors for transition to psychosis in an Ultra-High Risk population (original) (raw)

Risk of psychotic disorders in migrants to Australia

Psychological Medicine, 2020

BackgroundCertain migrant groups are at an increased risk of psychotic disorders compared to the native-born population; however, research to date has mainly been conducted in Europe. Less is known about whether migrants to other countries, with different histories and patterns of migration, such as Australia, are at an increased risk for developing a psychotic disorder. We tested this for first-generation migrants in Melbourne, Victoria.MethodsThis study included all young people aged 15–24 years, residing in a geographically-defined catchment area of north western Melbourne who presented with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) to the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2016. Data pertaining to the at-risk population were obtained from the Australian 2011 Census and incidence rate ratios were calculated and adjusted for age, sex and social deprivation.ResultsIn total, 1220 young people presented with an FEP during the 6-...

Psychosis and migrations: a review of methods and results in epidemiolgical literature

Mainstream psychiatric literature clearly indicates that the relative risk for developing psychotic disorders among migrants in the West is between two and five times higher than among locally born subjects. Particularly Sub-Saharian Africans and Afro-Caribeeans appear to be at grater risk when compared to other migrants subgroups. These results are both striking and puzzling. On one hand they invite us to reconsider migrants' mental health issues, on the other they call into question the different methodologies which have been used in the studies. Both methods and results differ depending on where the studies have been conducted and which categorisations have been used to subgroup migrants: ethnicity, place of birth, skin color or country's development rate. Furthermore statistically significant analyses point out the role of systemic racism in host societies. In this paper I have reviewed migrations and psychosis epidemiological studies, with a focus on methodologies, results and implications for

Neighbourhood characteristics and the rate of identification of young people at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Schizophrenia research, 2015

There is a higher incidence of psychotic disorders in more socially deprived neighbourhoods and a higher risk in migrants living in neighbourhoods of low ethnic density. Yet it is unclear at what stage these neighbourhood environmental factors exert an influence on the risk for psychosis. 166 Ultra high risk for psychosis young people were included in this study. Neighbourhood data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. There was a trend for UHR individuals to reside in relatively more deprived areas and there was no association between the rate of identification of UHR migrants and neighbourhood ethnic density.

Immigration, Social Environment and Onset of Psychotic Disorders

Current Pharmaceutical Design, 2012

The recent decade has been characterized by a resurging interest for socio-environmental determinants of psychotic disorders, largely as a result of findings from studies of migration and psychotic disorders. This contribution reviews recent meta-analytic findings which confirm higher incidence rates of schizophrenia and related disorders among first-and second-generation immigrants than in nonimmigrant populations, as well as substantial risk variation according to both ethnic minority groups and host society contexts. The relevance of social contexts in the onset of psychosis is also suggested by incidence variation according to the neighbourhood level ethnic density. While limited, an emerging literature suggests potential variations in psychotic-like experiences and at-risk mental states according to ethnic minority status. We then discuss the meaning of findings from migrant studies, as well as integrative models that attempt to account for ethnic variations in the incidence of psychosis and psychotic-like phenomena. In conclusion, there remain numerous gaps in our understanding of the relation between migration, ethnicity, social contexts and the onset of psychosis and we propose future research avenues to address these. In particular, there is a need for multilevel approaches integrating disciplines and methodologies across the psychosis continuum.

Migration history and risk of psychosis: results from the multinational EU-GEI study

Psychological Medicine

Background Psychosis rates are higher among some migrant groups. We hypothesized that psychosis in migrants is associated with cumulative social disadvantage during different phases of migration. Methods We used data from the EUropean Network of National Schizophrenia Networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) case–control study. We defined a set of three indicators of social disadvantage for each phase: pre-migration, migration and post-migration. We examined whether social disadvantage in the pre- and post-migration phases, migration adversities, and mismatch between achievements and expectations differed between first-generation migrants with first-episode psychosis and healthy first-generation migrants, and tested whether this accounted for differences in odds of psychosis in multivariable logistic regression models. Results In total, 249 cases and 219 controls were assessed. Pre-migration (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.06–2.44, p = 0.027) and post-migration social disadvantag...

Ethnic density, urbanicity and psychosis risk for migrant groups -A population cohort study

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Migration, ethnicity, and psychosis: toward a sociodevelopmental model

Schizophrenia …, 2010

There is consistent and strong evidence that the incidence of all psychoses is higher in many migrant and minority ethnic populations in a number of countries. The reasons for this are, however, unclear and a wide range of explanations have been proposed, from genetic to neurodevelopmental to psychosocial. In this article, we describe and evaluate the available evidence for and against each of these. What this shows is that: (1) there are few studies that have directly investigated specific risk factors in migrant and minority ethnic populations, with often only 1 or 2 studies of any relevance to specific explanations and (2) what limited research there has been tends to implicate a diverse range of social factors (including childhood separation from parents, discrimination and, at an area level, ethnic density) as being of potential importance. In an attempt to synthesize these disparate findings and provide a basis for future research, we go on to propose an integrated model-of a sociodevelopmental pathway to psychosis-to account for the reported high rates in migrant and minority ethnic populations. Aspects of this model will be directly tested in a new Europe-wide incidence and case-control study that we will conduct over the next 3 years, as part of the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions programme.

Neighbourhood ethnic density and psychosis -Is there a difference according to generation

Background: For different migrant groups living in an area with few people from the same ethnic background is associated with increased psychosis incidence (the ethnic density effect). We set out to answer the question: are there generational differences in this effect? Methods: Analysis of a population based cohort (2.2 million) comprising all those born 1st January 1965, or later, living in Denmark on their 15th birthday. This included 90,476 migrants from Africa, Europe (excluding Scandinavia) and the Middle East, with 55% first generation and the rest second-generation migrants. Neighbourhood co-ethnic density was determined at age 15 and we adjusted for age, gender, calendar period, parental psychiatric history and parental income. Results: For first-generation migrants from Africa, there was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.30) in psychosis rates when comparing lowest with highest ethnic density quintiles, whereas the second generation showed a 3.87-fold (95% CI 1.77-8.48) increase. Similarly, for migrants from the Middle East, the first generation showed no evidence of an ethnic density effect (p = 0.94) while the second showed a clear increase in psychosis when comparing lowest with highest quintiles, incidence rate ratio (IRR) 2.43 (95% CI, 1.18-5.00). For European migrants, there was some limited evidence of an effect in the first generation, (IRR) 1.69 (95% CI, 1.19-2.40), with this slightly raised in the second: IRR 1.80 (95% CI, 1.27-2.56). Conclusions: We found strong evidence for an ethnic density effect on psychosis incidence for second-generation migrants but this was either weak or absent for the first generation.

Migration history, minorities status and risk of psychosis

2015

Objectives A marked increased incidence of psychosis in migrants and ethnic minorities is a well established phenomenon. We aim to review data and insights arising from epidemiological and clinical/ psychopathological studies regarding the relationship between migration history, minority status and risk of psychosis in order to evaluate the experiences of migrants and minority ethnic groups in host societies.