Archives of General Psychiatry
Volume 68, Issue 12, 2011, Pages 1284-1293

Migration from Mexico to the United States and conduct disorder: A cross-national study (Article) (Open Access)

Breslau J.* , Borges G. , Saito N. , Tancredi D.J. , Benjet C. , Hinton L. , Kendler K.S. , Kravitz R. , Vega W. , Aguilar-Gaxiola S. , Medina-Mora M.E.
  • a Health Division, RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Ave, Ste 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665, United States
  • b Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico City, Mexico
  • c Center for Health Policy and Research, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • d Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • e Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico City, Mexico
  • f Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • g Departments of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
  • h Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • i Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • j Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
  • k Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Psychiatry, Mexico City, Mexico

Abstract

Context: Twin studies suggest that conduct disorder (CD) is under substantial genetic influence, which is stronger for aggressive than for nonaggressive symptoms. Studies of migrating populations offer an alternative strategy for separating environmental and genetic influences on psychiatric disorders. Objectives: To examine variation in the prevalence of CD associated with migration from Mexico to the United States and to determine whether this variation is similar for aggressive and nonaggressiveCDsymptoms and symptom profiles. Design: The prevalences of CD, different types of CD symptoms, and CD symptom profiles were compared across 3 generations of people of Mexican origin with increasing levels of exposure to American culture: families of origin of migrants (residing in Mexico), children of Mexican migrants raised in the United States, and Mexican- American children of US-born parents. Setting: General population surveys conducted in Mexico and the United States using the same diagnostic interview. Participants: Adults aged 18 to 44 years in the household population of Mexico and the household population of people of Mexican descent in the United States. Main Outcome Measures: Conduct disorder criteria, assessed using the World Mental Health version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: Compared with the risk in families of origin of migrants, risk of CD was lower in the general population of Mexico (odds ratio [OR],0.54; 95% CI, 0.19- 1.51), higher in children of Mexican-born immigrants who were raised in the United States (OR,4.12; 95% CI, 1.47- 11.52), and higher still in Mexican-American children of US-born parents (OR,7.64; 95% CI, 3.20-18.27). The association with migration was markedly weaker for aggressive than for nonaggressive symptoms. Conclusions: The prevalence of CD increases dramatically across generations of the Mexican-origin population after migration to the United States. This increase is of larger magnitude for nonaggressive than for aggressive symptoms, consistent with the suggestion that nonaggressive symptoms are more strongly influenced by environmental factors than are aggressive symptoms. ©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

conduct disorder human Logistic Models Mexico mental disease United States Young Adult Humans Aggression Adolescent male Emigrants and Immigrants environmental factor Acculturation female prevalence Article major clinical study adult migration Sex Factors Age Factors Mexican Americans
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-83055160727&doi=10.1001%2farchgenpsychiatry.2011.140&partnerID=40&md5=4176f0935356e3a4a6d6bfa9390c6eb6
DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.140
ISSN: 0003990X
Cited by: 30
Original Language: English