Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults
BackgroundRoma are the largest and most disadvantaged minority in Europe, but there is few research on how mental health and social support of Roma people living in segregated settlements compares to the majority population. Our aim was to compare the subjective well-being, life satisfaction, mental...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1205504/full |
| _version_ | 1797768044890554368 |
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| author | Barnabás Oláh Éva Bíró Karolina Kósa |
| author_facet | Barnabás Oláh Éva Bíró Karolina Kósa |
| author_sort | Barnabás Oláh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundRoma are the largest and most disadvantaged minority in Europe, but there is few research on how mental health and social support of Roma people living in segregated settlements compares to the majority population. Our aim was to compare the subjective well-being, life satisfaction, mental status, and social support of representative samples of adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) and identifying as Roma with those of the general population in Hungary.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with random samples of 417 individuals from the general Hungarian adult population (55.6% female, mean age = 43.89 ± 12.61 years) and 394 adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) (73.9% female, mean age = 42.37 ± 12.39 years). Demographic questions were used as well as the WHO Well-Being Index (WBI-5), the single item Life Satisfaction Scale, the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3).ResultsResidents of colonies reported significantly lower levels of subjective well-being and life satisfaction than the general population. The proportion of individuals at high risk for mental morbidity was more than twice as high among colony dwellers (16.4%) as in non-colony dwellers (7.6%). Similar unfavorable differences were seen at the expense of self-identified Roma compared to self-identified Hungarians but no difference was found in terms of social support either by type of residence or ethnicity. 32.2% of colony-dwellers self-identified themselves as Hungarian. Mental health assessed by principal component was directly determined by settlement type of permanent residence, age, educational attainment, employment, financial status, and social support but not ethnic identity.ConclusionThe study based on representative data shows that residents of segregated settlements are in worse mental health than those not living in colonies; that housing segregation is not limited to Roma people, and that housing conditions and financial status are major social determinants of mental health for which data must be collected to avoid using self-reported Roma identity as a proxy measure of socioeconomic deprivation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:48:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0fcaef791f4e442983352ade7abc3867 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:48:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-0fcaef791f4e442983352ade7abc38672023-08-01T07:01:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-08-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.12055041205504Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adultsBarnabás Oláh0Éva Bíró1Karolina Kósa2Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, HungaryDepartment of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, HungaryBackgroundRoma are the largest and most disadvantaged minority in Europe, but there is few research on how mental health and social support of Roma people living in segregated settlements compares to the majority population. Our aim was to compare the subjective well-being, life satisfaction, mental status, and social support of representative samples of adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) and identifying as Roma with those of the general population in Hungary.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with random samples of 417 individuals from the general Hungarian adult population (55.6% female, mean age = 43.89 ± 12.61 years) and 394 adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) (73.9% female, mean age = 42.37 ± 12.39 years). Demographic questions were used as well as the WHO Well-Being Index (WBI-5), the single item Life Satisfaction Scale, the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3).ResultsResidents of colonies reported significantly lower levels of subjective well-being and life satisfaction than the general population. The proportion of individuals at high risk for mental morbidity was more than twice as high among colony dwellers (16.4%) as in non-colony dwellers (7.6%). Similar unfavorable differences were seen at the expense of self-identified Roma compared to self-identified Hungarians but no difference was found in terms of social support either by type of residence or ethnicity. 32.2% of colony-dwellers self-identified themselves as Hungarian. Mental health assessed by principal component was directly determined by settlement type of permanent residence, age, educational attainment, employment, financial status, and social support but not ethnic identity.ConclusionThe study based on representative data shows that residents of segregated settlements are in worse mental health than those not living in colonies; that housing segregation is not limited to Roma people, and that housing conditions and financial status are major social determinants of mental health for which data must be collected to avoid using self-reported Roma identity as a proxy measure of socioeconomic deprivation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1205504/fullHungarianRomasegregated settlementsmental healthlife satisfactionsubjective well-being |
| spellingShingle | Barnabás Oláh Éva Bíró Karolina Kósa Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults Frontiers in Public Health Hungarian Roma segregated settlements mental health life satisfaction subjective well-being |
| title | Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults |
| title_full | Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults |
| title_fullStr | Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults |
| title_short | Residence in segregated settlements (colonies) rather than Roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in Hungarian adults |
| title_sort | residence in segregated settlements colonies rather than roma identity increases the risk of unfavourable mental health in hungarian adults |
| topic | Hungarian Roma segregated settlements mental health life satisfaction subjective well-being |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1205504/full |
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