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Objective: Specific ethnic groups appear to be disproportionally represented in emergency compulsory admissions. This may be due to a parallel higher risk of psychopathology, but different pathways to care in patients from ethnic minorities may also be an explanatory factor. In this article we concentrate on the influence of ethnic background, pathways to psychiatric emergency services and the amount of past psychiatric treatment as predictors of emergency compulsory admission. Methods: All the patients coming into contact consecutively with the Psychiatric Emergency Service Amsterdam (PESA) from September 2004 to September 2006 were included in the study. We collected socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and data about prior use of mental health services and referral to the emergency service. Results: The risk of compulsory admission for immigrants from Surinam and the Dutch Antilles (OR 2.6), sub-Saharan Africa (OR 3.1), Morocco and other non-Western countries (each OR 1.7) was significantly higher than for native Dutch people. After controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, diagnosis, referral pattern and psychiatric treatment history, this correlation was no longer found. Conclusion: We found no evidence to substantiate the hypothesis that ethnic background plays an independent role in emergency compulsory admission. Police referral rather than referral by a GP, and being diagnosed with a psychosis, seemed to be explanatory factors for the high risk of compulsory admission for non-Western immigrants. Infrequent contact with secondary mental healthcare during the previous five years was not found to be consistently associated with a higher risk.

Migrants and their offspring are at increased risk of developing mental disorders. Previous research has shown associations between adverse social factors (e.g., discrimination, lack of social support) and mental health problems in migrants, but it is unknown how these associations are understood by migrants themselves. In this study, we aimed to gain explorative insight into the way young Moroccan-Dutch people experience their social environment, and how they relate this social environment to the development of mental health problems. At www.marokko.nl , the largest online discussion platform for young Moroccan-Dutch people, contributors discuss a broad variety of subjects, including societal, cultural, religious, and mental health issues. Combining deductive and inductive approaches to qualitative data analysis, we analysed 22 forum discussions at marokko.nl about mental health problems, after which data saturation was reached. Contributors described feeling isolated and experiencing discrimination in their social environment. Contributor comments identified social challenges arising from Dutch society, Dutch culture (e.g., being too individualistic), Moroccan culture (e.g., strict parenting style), and living between these two cultures. These social challenges are perceived to be associated with mental health problems. Furthermore, we created a model describing the different types of explanations contributors used for mental health problems, being: religious (e.g., possession); medical (i.e., a bio-psycho-social cause); or a combination of both. This model can help clinicians in delivering culturally sensitive mental health care. Lastly, this study shows the taboo on mental health problems in the Moroccan-Dutch population and the opportunity to open up in the online environment.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) often co-occur, partly because they share risk factors. In this international multicenter study, risk factors for BPD were examined for SUD patients. In total, 1,205 patients were comprehensively examined by standardized interviews and questionnaires on psychiatric diagnosis and risk factors, and it was found that 1,033 (85.7%) had SUDs without BPD (SUD) and 172 (14.3%) had SUD with BPD (SUD + BPD). SUD + BPD patients were significantly younger, more often females and more often diagnosed with comorbid adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. SUD + BPD patients did not differ from SUD patients on most risk factors typical for SUD such as maternal use of drugs during pregnancy or parents having any SUD. However, SUD + BPD patients did have a higher risk of having experienced emotional and physical abuse, neglect, or family violence in childhood compared to SUD patients, suggesting that child abuse and family violence are BPD-specific risk factors in patients with SUDs.