Migratory processes and psychiatric disorders in a sample of adolescents: A retrospective observational study

Objective: To analyze the clinical and socio-demographic features in a sample of 10–17 years-old immigrant inpatients with a psychiatric disorder. Method: One hundred and thirty-eight immigrant adolescents, 138 Italian controls age, gender, and diagnosis-matched were enrolled. Socio-demographic and clinical features were carried out from medical records. Immigrants were divided into three groups according to the migratory processes: first-generation participants immigrated alone (IAs) to reunite with their parents (58%); first-generation participants immigrated with their parents (IPs) (13.8%); second-generation participants (SGIs), born in Italy from immigrant parents (25.3%). Results: The onset of psychiatric symptoms in IAs occurred mainly after the first-year of stay in Italy (80.2%, p = 0.036, OR 5.25), while IPs were more likely to begin showing their symptoms 5 years after immigration. Moreover, IAs were more likely to be admitted to the emergency room for the first occurrence of an acute psychiatric disorder rather than for a chronic, previously-treated disease, when compared with SGIs and Italians. Conclusion: Among the immigrants, first-generation adolescents were the most likely to present a psychiatric acute disorder. When compared with Italians, immigrants were more likely to use the emergency room to access mental health services and tended to be hospitalized for an acute, previously unknown, disease.