title: Does social capital protect mental health among migrants in Sweden?
abstract: Poor mental health is common among migrants. This has been explained by migration-related and socio-economic factors. Weak social capital has also been related to poor mental health. Few studies have explored factors that protect mental health of migrants in the post-migration phase. Such knowledge could be useful for health promotion purposes. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse associations between financial difficulties, housing problems and experience of discrimination and poor mental health; and to detect possible effect modification by social capital, among recently settled Iraqi migrants in Sweden. A postal questionnaire in Arabic was sent to recently settled Iraqi citizens. The response rate was 51% (n = 617). Mental health was measured by the GHQ-12 instrument and social capital was defined as social participation and trust in others. Data were analysed by means of logistic regression. Poor mental health was associated with experience of discrimination (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.73-4.79), housing problems (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.84-4.22), and financial difficulties (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.44-3.19), after adjustments. Trust in others seemed to have a protective effect for mental health when exposed to these factors. Social participation had a protective effect when exposed to experience of discrimination. Social determinants and social capital in the host country play important roles in the mental health of migrants. Social capital modifies the effect of risk factors and might be a fruitful way to promote resilience to factors harmful to mental health among migrants, but must be combined with policy efforts to reduce social inequities.
authors.affiliation: Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmoe, CRC, Lund University, 205 02 Malmoe, Sweden susanne.sundell_lecerof@med.lu.se.
authors.forename: Susanne Sundell
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lecerof
authors.affiliation: Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmoe, CRC, Lund University, 205 02 Malmoe, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stafström
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 564, 751 22 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ragnar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Westerling
authors.affiliation: Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmoe, CRC, Lund University, 205 02 Malmoe, Sweden.
authors.forename: Per-Olof
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Östergren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D066270:Social Capital; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: mental health; protective health factors; social capital; social determinants