Mental health of Turkish women in Germany: resilience and risk factors

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to examine the protective and risk factors of mental distress among Turkish women living in Germany. METHOD: 105 Turkish immigrant women living in Berlin were investigated with measures of extraversion/neuroticism (NEO-FFI), general self-efficacy (GSE), social support (BSSS), social strain (F-SOZU) and mental distress (GHQ-28). Interrelations between psychosocial variables were assessed using simple Pearson correlations. RESULTS: In all subjects, social strain (Pearson's r=.26(**), p=.008) and neuroticism (r=.34(**), p<.001) were positively associated with mental distress. In contrast, perceived self-efficacy (r=-.38(**), p<.001) and extraversion (r=-.36(**), p<.001) were negatively associated with mental distress. CONCLUSION: Protective factors such as extraversion and self-efficacy seem to have a buffering effect on the process of migration. However, in addition to neuroticism, social strain seems to be positively associated with mental distress.