Immigrant status is associated with lower rates of use of mental health services, even with universal health insurance. This lower rate of use likely reflects cultural and linguistic barriers to care.

The present study examined the relationship between religious practice and psychological distress in a culturally diverse urban population to explore how religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, and immigrant status affect this relationship. Data were drawn from a study of health care utilization in Montreal. A stratified community sample of 1485 yielded four religious groups: Protestant (n = 205), Catholic (813), Jewish (201), and Buddhist (150), and a group with no declared religion (116). The sample was composed of five ethnocultural groups: Anglophone Canadian-born, Francophone Canadian-born, Afro-Caribbean, Vietnamese, and Filipino immigrants. Psychological distress was assessed with the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Religious involvement was measured with three items: 1) declared religion; 2) frequency of attendance at religious meetings; and 3) frequency of religious rituals performed at home. Multiple regression models examined the relationship of religious practice to distress, controlling for sociodemographic variables including ethnicity. Overall, attendance at religious services was associated with a lower GHQ score. Attendance at religious services also was inversely related to psychological distress for females, Protestants, Catholics, Filipinos, and Afro-Caribbeans; but not for males, Buddhists or Jews. Religious practice at home was not associated with level of distress for any group. The 'no declared religion' group had the highest mean GHQ score of all the groups. Results confirm the association between attendance at religious services and lower levels of distress, but reveal ethnospecific and gender effects indicating the need to understand the impact of religious practice on mental health in social and cultural context.

This article explores the matching process at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels in health services in order to arrive at culturally competent and gender-sensitive health care. We provide a brief overview of sex, gend~ ethnicity, and health, specifically in terms of sex and ethnic matching at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. Throughout the article we raise some controversial elements surrounding matching by providing a discussion of studies conducted in this field. In conclusion we examine the challenges to sex and ethnic matching in order to provide recommendations and alternative strategies toward the achievement of culturally competent and gender-sensitive health care. Cet article examine le processus de jumelage aux niveaux micro-, mdso-, et macro-dans les services de santd afin d'en arriver ?z des services de santd qui soient culturellement compdtents et adaptds aux diff&ences entre les hommes et Ies femmes. Nous donnons un bref apercu du sexe, de l'origine ethnique et de l'dtat de sant~ surtout en ce qui concerne le jumelage du point de vue du sexe et de l'ethnie aux niveaux micro-, mdso-et macro-. Tout au long de l' article, nous soulevons certains dl~rnents controversds qui entourent Ie jumelage en discutant d'dtudes mendes dans ce domaine. En conclusion, nous examinons les difficultds que repr~sente le jumelage du point de vue du sexe et de l'ethnie afin de formuler des recommandations et des strategies de rechange pour en arriver dL des services de santd culturellement compdtents et adapt~s aux diffdrences entre les hommes et les femmes.

Anecdotal reports suggest that child survivors of the Nazi persecution are functioning well as adults. Ratings of their parents by a randomly selected community sample of young adult Ashkenazi Jews on a scale that measured Schizoid, Paranoid, Depressive/Masochistic and Type A/Normal Aggressive symptoms permitted verification of these reports. Among the parents were groups who were children, adolescents, or young adults in 1945, at the end of World War II. Child-survivor parents did not differ from native-born parents on these measures 40 years later, whereas, consistent with the empirical findings of others, survivors who were adolescents or young adults at the end of the war manifested more paranoid and depressive/masochistic symptoms than native-born parents. To explain this possible greater long-term resilience among those who were child survivors, reference is made to later caretakers, endowment, cognitive and social development, and psychodynamics.

There have been virtually no recent census-based studies on the familial characteristics of black Canadians. The present study is a partial replication and extension of a study on black families published two decades ago by Christensen and Weinfeld (1993) and based on the 1986 Canadian census. The present paper utilizes the 2006 census in order to examine the current conditions of black families in Canada and assess what has changed since 1986 in the composition, marital status, and income of these families. Findings indicate that black families are more culturally heterogeneous than ever. Despite this, racial disparities in family formation and household income have only accentuated since 1986, bearing unique consequences for native and foreign-born black men and women. On the whole, relatively more black Canadians 25–44 years of age were single and never married, divorced, or separated in 2006 than in 1986. Between 1986 and 2006, the disparities in income between black families with young children and the general population have grown larger, both for single and dual parent families. The consequences of higher family instability, lone-parent families, economic insecurity and poverty for black families can only be detrimental for the welfare of children, particularly in a context of racial inequality. These issues deserve to be further investigated. Il n’existe aucune étude récente sur les caractéristiques des familles noires au Canada qui se base sur les données du recensement. En plus de présenter de nouvelles analyses sur les familles noires, cette étude reprend en partie celles effectuées il y a 20 ans par Christensen et Weinfeld (1993) à l’aide des données du recensement de 1986. Les objectifs sont, d’une part, d’examiner les circonstances des familles noires selon la composition du ménage, le statut conjugal et le revenu familial par le biais du recensement de 2006 et, d’autre part, de comparer ces résultats avec les données de 1986. L’hétérogénéité culturelle des familles noires va grandissante. Les résultats démontrent que les disparités raciales ont augmenté au sein de la population noire depuis 1986 quant à la formation des familles et le revenu des ménages, et imposent des conséquences uniques pour les femmes et hommes noirs nés au Canada ou à l’extérieur. Entre 1986 et 2006, les disparités de revenu ont augmenté entre les ménages comprenant des enfants noirs et la population générale. Ces disparités sont présentes autant chez les familles monoparentales que biparentales. L’instabilité conjugale, vivre dans une famille monoparentale, l’insécurité économique et la pauvreté peuvent avoir des effets néfastes pour le bien-être des enfants issus de familles de la minorité noire et ce, particulièrement dans un contexte d’inégalités raciales. Ces questions méritent d’être approfondies.