Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 19, Issue 3, 2017, Pages 499-510

Mental Health Status of Double Minority Adolescents: Findings from National Cross-Sectional Health Surveys (Article)

Chiang S.-Y.* , Fleming T. , Lucassen M. , Fenaughty J. , Clark T. , Denny S.
  • a Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
  • b Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand
  • c Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand, Department of Health and Social Care, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
  • d Department of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  • e School of Nursing, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  • f Department of Paediatrics, Child and Youth Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

Little population-based work has been published about the mental health of adolescents with both sexual/gender (SG) and ethnic minority (i.e. double minority) status. This study aimed to provide an overview on their mental health. Analysis of data from a total of 17,607 high school students from New Zealand’s 2007 and 2012 cross-sectional nationally representative Adolescent Health Surveys, including a total of 1306 (7.4%) SG minority participants, of whom 581 (3.3%) were also an ethnic minority. SG minority status, minority ethnicity, and female sex were associated with higher mental distress and poorer well-being. Generally speaking, double minority students reported poorer mental health than SG majority students of the same ethnicity, but reported better mental health than SG minority New Zealand European students. Explanations and future directions for research were suggested to further explore how double minority students negotiate mental health in the context of their communities/cultures in New Zealand. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Ethnic minority Intersectionality LGBT Mental health Youth/adolescence

Index Keywords

sexual and gender minority minority group mental health human sex ratio Ethnic Groups Sexual and Gender Minorities ethnic group health status ethnology Cross-Sectional Studies cross-sectional study Humans psychology Adolescent Minority Groups male female Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics New Zealand Sex Distribution
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84995752413&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-016-0530-z&partnerID=40&md5=f96cc7e964b0e0cfaaf676bb957e152d
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0530-z
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English