There is a large body of research reporting high rates of psychotic disorders among many migrant and minority ethnic groups, particularly in Northern Europe. In the context of increasing migration and consequent cultural diversity in many places worldwide, these findings are a major social and public health concern. In this paper, we take stock of the current state of the art, reviewing evidence on variations in rates of psychoses and putative explanations, including relevant theories and models. We discuss in particular: a) the wide variation in reported rates of psychotic disorders by ethnic group, and b) the evidence implicating social risks to explain this variation, at ecological and individual levels. We go on to set out our proposed socio-developmental model, that posits greater exposure to systemic social risks over the life course, particularly those involving threat, hostility and violence, to explain high rates of psychoses in some migrant and minority ethnic groups. Based on this analysis, the challenge of addressing this social and public health issue needs to be met at multiple levels, including social policy, community initiatives, and mental health service reform. © 2019 World Psychiatric Association

Migration socio-developmental model psychoses Structural violence mental health services Ethnicity Social policies

personality disorder Cultural Diversity clinical outcome economic status mental health service schizophrenia human psychosis priority journal policy social defeat dopamine social support meta analysis mental disease migrant ethnic conflict cognition risk factor cultural factor prevalence Incidence Article health care behavior disorder genetic risk Social Environment posttraumatic stress disorder ethnicity physiological stress social discrimination tetrahydrocannabinol systematic review social behavior