Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers

Our objective was to compare sociodemographic conditions and risky/health behaviors affecting Turkish or Middle Eastern versus ethnic Swedes and Finnish immigrant adolescents, respectively. All eligible adolescents 13-18 years old (3,216 pupils) in a medium-sized town in Sweden completed a va...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lars I Holmberg, Dan Hellberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2008-10-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2461
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850025237258698752
author Lars I Holmberg
Dan Hellberg
author_facet Lars I Holmberg
Dan Hellberg
author_sort Lars I Holmberg
collection DOAJ
description Our objective was to compare sociodemographic conditions and risky/health behaviors affecting Turkish or Middle Eastern versus ethnic Swedes and Finnish immigrant adolescents, respectively. All eligible adolescents 13-18 years old (3,216 pupils) in a medium-sized town in Sweden completed a validated in-depth questionnaire (Q90), with 165 questions. One hundred and one adolescents were Turkish or Middle Eastern immigrants, while 73 were immigrants from Finland, a neighboring country to Sweden. Turkish/Middle Eastern immigrants were more likely to attend a theoretical program in school, were rarely bullied, as compared to ethnic Swedes and Finns. Turkish/Middle Eastern girls used alcohol at a lower frequency, and reported less depression and sexual experiences than ethnic Swedish girls and Finns. A higher frequency of Finnish adolescents had been bullied and had vandalized, and Finnish adolescents were also determined to have used tobacco and cannabis and to be heavy drinkers more frequently than boys from Turkey/the Middle East. We concluded that adolescent immigrants from Turkey and the Middle East seem to be well adapted to Sweden and also have ambitions for a higher education. Differences in risky behaviors were particularly pronounced in comparisons with immigrants from Finland for both boys and girls.
format Article
id doaj-art-d3200b85fe1f43d8bb1155c06cf7dcd4
institution DOAJ
issn 0041-4301
2791-6421
language English
publishDate 2008-10-01
publisher Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health
record_format Article
series The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
spelling doaj-art-d3200b85fe1f43d8bb1155c06cf7dcd42025-08-20T03:00:54ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212008-10-01505Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagersLars I Holmberg0Dan HellbergChild Health Unit, Falun Hospital, Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Falun, Sweden. Our objective was to compare sociodemographic conditions and risky/health behaviors affecting Turkish or Middle Eastern versus ethnic Swedes and Finnish immigrant adolescents, respectively. All eligible adolescents 13-18 years old (3,216 pupils) in a medium-sized town in Sweden completed a validated in-depth questionnaire (Q90), with 165 questions. One hundred and one adolescents were Turkish or Middle Eastern immigrants, while 73 were immigrants from Finland, a neighboring country to Sweden. Turkish/Middle Eastern immigrants were more likely to attend a theoretical program in school, were rarely bullied, as compared to ethnic Swedes and Finns. Turkish/Middle Eastern girls used alcohol at a lower frequency, and reported less depression and sexual experiences than ethnic Swedish girls and Finns. A higher frequency of Finnish adolescents had been bullied and had vandalized, and Finnish adolescents were also determined to have used tobacco and cannabis and to be heavy drinkers more frequently than boys from Turkey/the Middle East. We concluded that adolescent immigrants from Turkey and the Middle East seem to be well adapted to Sweden and also have ambitions for a higher education. Differences in risky behaviors were particularly pronounced in comparisons with immigrants from Finland for both boys and girls. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2461
spellingShingle Lars I Holmberg
Dan Hellberg
Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
title Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
title_full Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
title_fullStr Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
title_full_unstemmed Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
title_short Characteristics of relevance for health in Turkish and Middle Eastern adolescent immigrants compared to Finnish immigrants and ethnic Swedish teenagers
title_sort characteristics of relevance for health in turkish and middle eastern adolescent immigrants compared to finnish immigrants and ethnic swedish teenagers
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/2461
work_keys_str_mv AT larsiholmberg characteristicsofrelevanceforhealthinturkishandmiddleeasternadolescentimmigrantscomparedtofinnishimmigrantsandethnicswedishteenagers
AT danhellberg characteristicsofrelevanceforhealthinturkishandmiddleeasternadolescentimmigrantscomparedtofinnishimmigrantsandethnicswedishteenagers