Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Religious discrimination and common mental disorders in England: a nationally representative population-based study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Although the impact of discrimination on mental health has been increasingly discussed, the effect of religious discrimination has not been examined systematically. We studied the prevalence of perceived religious discrimination and its association with common mental disorders in a nationally representative population-based sample in England.

Methods

We used data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 that represents all adults age 16 years and over living in private households in England. Common mental disorders were ascertained using the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Experience of discrimination was assessed by a computer-assisted self-report questionnaire and potential paranoid traits by the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire.

Results

From the total of 7318 participants, 3873 (52.4 %) reported adhering to religion. 108 subjects (1.5 %) reported being unfairly treated in the past 12 months due to their religion. Non-Christian religious groups were more likely to report perceived religious discrimination compared to Christians (OR 11.44; 95 % CI 7.36–17.79). People who experienced religious discrimination had increased prevalence of all common mental disorders. There was a two-fold increase in the risk of common mental disorders among people who reported experience of religious discrimination independent of their ethnicity, skin colour or suspected paranoid traits.

Conclusions

The impact of perceived religious discrimination on mental health should be given more consideration in treatment and future preventative policies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Williams D, Yan Y, Jackson J, Anderson N (1997) Racial differences in physical and mental health: socioeconomic status, stress and discrimination. J Health Psychol 2:335–351

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Williams D, Neighbors H, Jackson J (2003) Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies. Am J Public Health 93(2):200–207

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bhui K, Stansfeld S, McKenzie K, Karlsen S, Nazroo J, Weich S (2005) Racial/Ethic discrimination and common mental disorders among workers: findings from the EMPIRIC study of ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. Am J Public Health 95(3):496–501

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kessler R, Mickelson K, Williams D (1999) The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. J Health Soc Behav 40:208–230

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Brown T, Wiliams D, Jackson J, Neighbors H, Torres M, Sellers S, Brown K (2000) “Being black and feeling blue”: the mental health consequences or racial discrimination. Race Soc 2:117–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sheridan L (2006) Islamophobia pre- and post-September 11th, 2001. J Interpers Violence 21(3):317–336

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Padela A, Heisler M (2010) The association of perceived abuse and discrimination after September 11, 2001, with psychological distress, level of happiness, and health status among Arab Americans. Am J Public Health 100:284–291

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Rubin G, Bewin C, Greenberg N, Hughes J, Simpson J, Wessely S (2005) Psychological and behavioural reactions to the bombing in London on 7 July 2005; cross sectional survey of a representative sample of Londoners. BMJ 330(7517):350–356

    Google Scholar 

  9. Karlsen S, Nazroo J (2002) Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups. Am J Public Health 92(4):624–631

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. McManus S, Meltzer H, Brugha T, Bebbington P, Jenkins R (2009) Adult Psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007: results of a household survey. NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, London

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lewis G, Pelosi A, Araya R, Dunn G (1992) Measuring psychiatric disorder in the community; a standardized assessment for use by lay interviewers. Psychol Med 22:465–486

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Pez O, Gilbert F, Bitfoi A, Carta M, Jordanova V, Kovess-Masfety V (2009) Validity across translations of short survey psychiatric diagnostic instruments: CIDI-SF and CIS-R versus SCID-I/NP in four European countries. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 67(3):516–523

    Google Scholar 

  13. Bebbington P, Nayani T (1995) Psychosis screening questionnaire. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 5:11–19

    Google Scholar 

  14. Groves RM (2002) Survey nonresponse. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  15. Jacob K, Everitt B, Patel V, Weich S, Araya R, Lewis G (1998) The comparison of latent variable models of non-psychotic psychiatric morbidity in four culturally diverse populations. Psychol Med 28:145–152

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Weller P, Feldman A, Purdam K (2001) Religious discrimination in England and Wales. Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, London

    Google Scholar 

  17. Chahal K, Julienne I (1999) We can’t all be white. Racist victimisation in the UK. York Publishing Services, London

    Google Scholar 

  18. Krieger N (2000) Discrimination and health. In: Berkman I, Kawachi I (eds) Social epidemiology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 36–75

    Google Scholar 

  19. Leibkind K, Jasinskaja-Lahti I (2000) The influence of experiences of discrimination on psychological stress: a comparison of seven immigrant groups. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 10(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Moradi B, Hasan N (2004) Arab American persons’ reported experiences of discrimination and mental health: the mediating role of personal control. J Couns Psychol 51(4):418–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Cainkar I (2004) The impact of 9/11 on Muslim and Arabs in the United States. In: Tirman J (ed) The Maze of fear: security and migration after September 11. New Press, New York, pp 215–239

    Google Scholar 

  22. Abu-Ras W, Abu-Bader S (2008) The impact of September 11, 2001 attacks on the wellbeing of Arab Americans in New York City. J Muslim Ment Health 3(2):217–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bhiu K, Dinos S (2011) Preventive psychiatry: a paradigm to improve population mental health and well-being. Br J Psychiatry 198:417–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Koenig H, McCullough Larson D (2001) Handbook of religion and health. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Smith T, McCullough M, Poll J (2003) Religiousness and depression: evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stressful life events. Psychol Bull 129:614–636

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, UK

    Vesna Jordanova

  2. Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Mike J. Crawford

  3. National Centre for Social Research, London, UK

    Sally McManus

  4. Department of Mental Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Paul Bebbington

  5. Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Traolach Brugha

Authors
  1. Vesna Jordanova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mike J. Crawford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sally McManus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul Bebbington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Traolach Brugha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vesna Jordanova.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Appendix

Appendix

1. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to your skin colour or ethnicity?

2. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to your sexual orientation?

3. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to your religious beliefs?

4. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to your age?

5. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to your mental health?

6. Have you been unfairly treated in last 12 months due to other health problem or disability?

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jordanova, V., Crawford, M.J., McManus, S. et al. Religious discrimination and common mental disorders in England: a nationally representative population-based study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 1723–1729 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1110-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1110-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation