Kim Wooseong, Juárez Sol P, Dunlavy Andrea, Drefahl Sven, Aradhya Siddartha
Demography Unit, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Soc Sci Med. 2025 Apr;371:117866. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117866. Epub 2025 Feb 20.
Children of immigrants born in the host country-the second generation (G2)-face higher risks of unemployment and overqualification compared to the majority native population in Western Europe. While the health effects of unemployment and overqualification are well documented, it remains unclear whether these factors impact the mental health of the G2 in the same way as in the majority population. This study uses Swedish register data to examine the association between different labor market disadvantages, i.e., unemployment and overqualification, and mental health outcomes among the G2 and the majority population. The outcome was measured as time to the first prescription of psychotropic medications (anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics, and antidepressants). Descriptive findings showed that psychotropic prescription rates are higher among G2 groups compared to the majority population. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors, indicated that unemployment similarly impacts mental health across origin groups, suggesting that being unemployed does not contribute to the mental health inequality between the G2 and the majority population. G2 individuals, especially G2 European individuals, showed higher risks of psychotropic prescriptions across all employment types. These findings imply that improving the labor market position is not sufficient to address mental health inequalities between the G2 and the majority population.
在东道国出生的移民子女——第二代（G2）——与西欧多数本土人口相比，面临着更高的失业风险和学历过高的问题。虽然失业和学历过高对健康的影响已有充分记录，但尚不清楚这些因素对第二代移民心理健康的影响是否与多数人口相同。本研究使用瑞典登记数据来检验不同劳动力市场劣势（即失业和学历过高）与第二代移民和多数人口心理健康结果之间的关联。结果以首次开具精神药物（抗焦虑药、镇静剂、催眠药和抗抑郁药）处方的时间来衡量。描述性结果表明，与多数人口相比，第二代移民群体的精神药物处方率更高。经人口和社会经济因素调整的Cox比例风险模型表明，失业对不同出身群体的心理健康影响相似，这表明失业并非导致第二代移民和多数人口之间心理健康不平等的原因。第二代移民个体，尤其是第二代欧洲移民个体，在所有就业类型中都表现出更高的精神药物处方风险。这些发现意味着，改善劳动力市场地位不足以解决第二代移民和多数人口之间的心理健康不平等问题。
