Suchergebnisse

In this article, the authors present data from two longitudinal studies starting long before German reunification in East and West Germany. After unification, 533 twenty-five-year-olds and their parents were interviewed about mental health status, experience of life events and difficulties, and social support. The findings show that (a) externalizing disorders were more common in West Germany, whereas internalizing disorders were more common in East Germany; (b) there was a generation-specific differential course of disorders in East Germany after unification; and (c) the detrimental effect of life events and chronic difficulties on mental health could be weakened by kin and nonkin social support.