Better mental health through identifying with locals and country of origin among foreign-born people

Abstract

Background Sense of belonging (SoB) is an important determinant of health among foreign-born population and it has previously been found to be associated with perceived health. In this study we examined: 1) which types of SoB are associated with psychological strain (PS), and 2) whether this varies between different country groups. Methods The data were gathered from the cross-sectional Survey on Well-Being among Foreign-Born Population (FinMonik, n = 6 836), conducted in Finland in 2018-19. SoB was assessed by the question “Which of the following areas or groups you feel you belong to?”, classified into 1) both Finns/local municipality and citizens of country of origin CCO (acculturation identity), 2) only Finns/local municipality (local identity), 3) only CCO (origin identity), 4) only Europeans, world citizens, religious, work-related or political group (other identity), and 5) none of the previous. PS was measured by using the MHI-5 (psychological strain: yes; no). Logistic regression was used to test the association between SoB and PS, with age, sex and country of origin as confounding variables. In the analyses, weights were used to reduce non-response bias. Results Compared to the acculturation identity group, PS was more common among those with local identity (OR = 1.60, p < 0.01), origin identity (OR = 1.99, p < 0.001) or other identity (OR = 3.33, p < 0.001) and those with no belonging to any of the groups presented (OR = 5.40, p < 0.001). The last group was more likely to experience PS than the acculturation identity group in all five country groups included in the analysis. Acculturation identity was associated with less PS especially for those born in EU-, EFTA- and North American countries. Conclusions Acculturation identity was strongly associated with less psychological strain, especially when compared with the group reporting no belonging to any of the groups presented. Key messages Sense of belonging is associated with mental health and should be studied more extensively among different foreign-born population groups. Identification with both the local people and one’s own country of origin should be supported.

“Womanhood,” a shared experience of participating in a lifestyle intervention with a focus on integration and physical activity to promote health among pregnant women: perspectives from pregnant women, midwives, and cultural interpreter doulas

“…Important findings in this study were that the intervention “Dancing for birth” contributed to integration as well as increased the women’s feeling of belonging. Previous research has established belongingness contributes to the promotion of health, and to feel belonging to people from both the host country and the country of origin has been shown to benefit the health of the foreign-born individual (Seppänen et al, 2020 . However, the given opportunity to integrate into the lifestyle intervention was found to benefit not only those with a foreign background but also everyone involved.…”