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

Chiang, Szu-Ying; Fleming, Theresa; Lucassen, Mathijs; Fenaughty, John; Clark, Terryann and Denny, Simon (2017). Mental Health Status of Double Minority Adolescents: Findings from National Cross-Sectional Health Surveys. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health pp. 1–12.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0530-z

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.

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