oa Depressieklachten onder Turkse en Marokkaanse Nederlanders van de eerste generatie

Depressive symptoms among Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands: the impact of disintegration and locus of control

Previous research showed that especially Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands run a higher risk of experiencing symptoms of a depressive disorder than indigenous Dutch people. In this study we aim to explain why some Turkish and Moroccan migrants experience these symptoms of depressive disorder to a higher degree than other members of these groups. We used cross-sectional data from the Dutch Life Course Study (Nederlandse Levensloop Studie). Although one indicator of social disintegration, experienced loneliness, appeared to be the most important predictor for symptoms of a depressive disorder among these migrant groups, indicators of economic and psychological disintegration were also clear predictors for these symptoms. However, psychological disintegration, which we theorized to be the final stage of integration and therefore serves as a mediator, was unable to explain the relationships of economic and social disintegration with depressive symptoms. Moreover, taking the locus of control into account, appeared to provide important nuances for interpreting these effects: for those who experience more control over their lives, disintegration in the domains mentioned is less strongly linked with depressive symptoms than for those who experience less control over their lives.