Ethnic minority position as risk indicator for autism-spectrum and psychotic disorders

Migrants are at an increased risk of developing psychotic disorders. Although there may be differences regarding the prevalence of autism in migrants as well, further study on this is needed. It was shown that the increased risk of developing a psychosis also exists in the second generation. Men of Moroccan-Dutch origin in particular are found to develop a psychosis much more frequently, on average five times more often than women of Moroccan-Dutch origin.
It was shown that selective migration of people susceptible to developing a psychosis is not a sound explanation for our results. We state that social exclusion is an important risk factor, as other excluded groups such as children who are being bullied also develop a psychosis more frequently. This finding has far-reaching consequences for ethnic minorities in the Netherlands as well as the prognosis for refugees in Europe who are confronted with social exclusion on a large scale.