Associations Between Stressful Events and Self-Reported Mental Health Problems Among Non-Western Immigrants in Denmark

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the relationships of stressful events with self-reported mental health problems in the general population, comparing non-western immigrants with Danish nationals. 11.500 individuals aged 18–64 years from eight ethnic groups were invited to participate in a bilingual telephone survey on health among ethnic minorities in Denmark in 2007. Overall response rate is 52.1%. 3.997 individuals were selected for the present study. Self-reported mental health problems is twice as high among immigrants from Ex-Yugoslavia (24.6%), Iraq (30.2%) Iran (20.5%), Lebanon (27.2%) and Pakistan (19.9%), as among Danish nationals (9.7%) χ2 (7, n = 3.997) = 21.57, P > 0.00. Non-western immigrants report twelve out of thirteen types of stressful events more frequently compared to Danish nationals. The most frequently reported stressful event among non-western immigrants is ‘personal disease’. Immigrants perceive the perils of daily life as more stressful in comparison with host nationals probably because of the additional challenges of adjusting to a new environment.