Stressors related to immigration and migration background in Turkish patients with psychiatric disorder: validity of a short questionnaire (MIGSTR10).

The validity of a brief 10-item instrument for the assessment of stressors potentially related to migration and migration background (MIGSTR10) was evaluated in a retrospective analysis. To show convergent and discriminant validity, MIGSTR10 scores and general psychosocial stressors derived from DSM-IV axis IV (DSMSTR9) were compared between a randomly selected group of 30 inpatients with Turkish migration background (MIG) and a native German control group (CON), matched for age, gender, and diagnosis. The differential contribution of MIGSTR10 and DSMSTR9 to global functioning (GAF scores) was calculated. Multivariate analysis showed significantly higher distress in MIG compared to CON with regard to MIGSTR10 (λ = 0.33; P < 0.0005) and DSMSTR9 (λ = 0.703; P = 0.030); significant differences of single stressor severities between MIG and CON were found for "communication problems", "migration history", "loss of status", and "homesickness" (adjusted P < 0.01) of the MIGSTR10, but for none of the DSMSTR9 stressors. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant independent contribution of MIGSTR10, but not of DSMSTR9 sum scores, to GAF scores (R² = 23%, P = 0.011) in the MIG group whereas no significant overlap between stressor severity and GAF scores was found in CON. The results corroborate the validity of the MIGSTR10 to assess migration-related stressors which can affect global functioning and mental health in patients with migration background.