Differentiated Embedding and Social Relationships Among Russian Migrant Physicians in Finland: A Narrative Socio‐Analysis

Migrants’ processes of (dis)embedding in local and transnational social networks have received growing attention in recent years, but most research focuses on low‐skilled migration. This study explores the affordances and challenges that Russian physicians, as a high‐skilled migrant group in Finland, experience in these processes in work and non‐work domains. Based on semi‐structured biographical interviews with 26 Russian physicians, the study employs Bourdieu’s socio‐analysis to analyze their narratives. The results reveal that Russian migrant physicians negotiate and experience differentiated embedding across work–life domains in local and transnational contexts. They mostly develop collegial relationships with Finnish colleagues and benefit from fulfilling professional relationships in the work domain. However, alongside time and efforts needed for building social ties, various factors often impede friendship making and socialization with locals beyond the work domain. These physicians cope with individual life circumstances through their enduring and supportive relationships with their Russian relatives and colleagues–friends. These results indicate that high‐skilled migrants have a greater opportunity to connect professionally with locals than low‐skilled migrants, but experience similar challenges to the latter in building close personal relationships.

Chinese Migration in Poland — an Attempt to Characterize the Migrant Group, Including the Cultural and Educational Perspective of the Young Generation

Chinese Migration in Poland — an Attempt to Characterize the Migrant Group, Including the Cultural and Educational Perspective of the Young GenerationThis article presents selected examples related to everyday school life as experienced by one generation of Chinese immigrants in Poland. Apart from a theoretical framework, the statements and research questions were supported by empirical evidence showing that the process of acquiring Polish language and cultural norms may be a more complex challenge for Chinese immigrants in comparison to other immigrant groups in Poland. Migracja chińska w Polsce — próba charakterystyki grupy ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem młodego pokolenia uczęszczającego obecnie do polskich szkółCelem artykułu jest przedstawienie migracji chińskiej w Polsce, w tym pokolenia uczęszczającego obecnie do polskich szkół. Na przykładzie wybranej grupy uczniów podjęto próbę wykazania, z jakimi trudnościami o charakterze językowym i kulturowym mogą borykać się młodzi imigranci na drodze trudnej adaptacji w nowym kraju osiedlenia. Oprócz części teoretycznej, tekst zawiera także część badawczą, która ukazuje, jak złożony może być proces nabywania polszczyzny oraz norm kulturowych przez młodzież pochodzącą spoza Europy.

The Role of Resilience for Migrants and Refugees’ Mental Health in Times of COVID-19

Migrants and refugees need international protection, particularly during a crisis such as the current health pandemic. The aim of this research was to examine the mental health and attitudes towards COVID-19 in migrants and refugees compared to the general Spanish population. Moreover, the nature of resilience was examined as a mixed component though life experiences. For this proposal, an interview was carried out in a sample of 245 participants who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample was divided into Spanish non-migrants, Spanish migrants, non-Spanish migrants and refugees. Attitudes towards COVID-19, resilience (based on BRCS) and mental health (based on DASS-21) were measured. The results obtained can be described as follows: (i) Migrant participants indicated worse mental health than non-migrants, and within the migrant group, refugees presented worse scores; (ii) No differences were found in attitudes towards COVID-19 in any of the subgroups; (iii) A moderating effect of group was found for the relationship between resilience and mental health but not between resilience and fear of COVID-19. These results might be of great interest in making visible the vulnerability of migrants and specifically refugees, and the proposal of intervention programs based on resilience training.

Arancini, Identity, and the Refugee Debate in Sicily

In August of 2018, the Italian national government prohibited North African passengers onboard the Diciotti from disembarking in Catania, Sicily. The ship had docked amid an ongoing debate over how Italy should respond to an increasing number of immigrants and refugees arriving to the nation’s shores. Pro-migrant Sicilians came to the dock wielding arancini--fried rice balls--which are emblematic of the island's history and culture, as a way to symbolically welcome the migrants onboard the Diciotti. Nationalist Sicilians came as well to counter-protest the pro-migrant group. This paper asks first, who are the opposing groups (pro-migrant and nationalist Sicilians) and why did they adopt arancini? Second, how does arancini become a symbol of welcome and at the same time inhospitality? Third, how does the encounter become a stage for the larger debate over the meaning of identity in Sicily? By shifting the focus towards the host population and how it contests the meanings of such important local symbols, we capture the complexities of reception and debates over how natives perceive and receive migrants.

An Italian Adaptation of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) and Attitudes During the Covid-19 Outbreak

Resilience has attracted the interest of the scientific community during the Covid-19 outbreak, as a protective factor in mental health. As the migrant population arguably has one of the most vulnerable profiles in the current health crisis, the aim of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) across native and migrant residents in Italy, and to compare scores across these two populations. Other personal attitudes to the current restrictions were considered. Preliminary psychometrics were tested in a version of the translated instrument with an independent sample. A second independent sample was used to analyse the differences between migrant and native adults. The results showed no differences between the new version and the previous Spanish adaptation or the original instrument. Moreover, no differences were found between the migrant and non-migrant group. BRCS scores were predicted by attitudes toward Covid-19 but not by migrant or native group. These results suggest that the BRCS may be a useful tool to measure resilience in Italy at time of pandemic, irrespective of cultural differences.

The Cultural Integration of Working Vietnamese People in Poland: An Analysis of Integration as the Process of Immigrants’ Lived Experience

This article is devoted to investigating the cultural integration of working Vietnamese immigrants in Poland. This study approaches cultural integration as a process of lived experience, paying particular attention to immigrants’ agency. The migrant group is viewed as active actors who are able to develop motivations for integration into their host culture or reinforce their loyalty to their original culture through interactions with new living settings in their country of residence. This study also examined the role of transnationalism in the process of cultural integration. Qualitative analyses showed that the motivations for cultural integration are strongly shaped by the immigrants’ impression of proper cultural standards and their admiration of the performance of social institutions, modernization, and living conditions in Poland. Motivations for integration played a crucial role in fostering the migrant group’s cultural acquisition. Concurrently, the migrant group exposed their disinclination to internalize cultural standards that challenged their established worldviews formed by socialization and education in the home country. This reluctance happens due to the role of transnational ties by which the migrant group can carry and practice their original culture. Consequently, transnationalism results in cultural resistance, hindering the cultural integration of the migrant group in Poland.

P630 Inflammatory bowel disease in immigrants to Spain: results of the EIIMIGRA study from GETECCU (ENEIDA registry)

Background Previous studies comparing inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) features between migrant and native patients have shown clinical phenotype differences. To date, no study has focused on IBD immigrants(MP) in Spain. The aim of this study was to explore the features of MP in Spain and to compare age of disease onset, IBD phenotype and therapeutic requirements with native-born IBD patients(NP). Methods This was an observational, multicentric and case-control study of the nationwide ENEIDA registry. We selected all IBD patients who were born outside of Spain and compared with a control cohort of NP. All included patients were diagnosed with IBD before 2015. Results A total of 13,524 patients were included(1864 MP and 11660 NP).The most prevalent ethnic migrant group was Caucasian(771, 41%), followed by Latin American(572, 31%) and Arabian(341,18%), whereas Asian represented only 6%. Table 1 summarizes the demographic and phenotypic features. 71% of MP were diagnosed with IBD in Spain. There was not a gender predisposition to IBD in the overall migrant group, however more female UC MP were detected compared to UC NP(52 % vs 45%, p<0.001). MP were younger at the onset of the disease and had a shorter disease duration compared to NP, in both UC and CD patients. Significantly more CD patients were diagnosed under 16 years(A1) among MP, and more patients over 40 years(A3) among NB. More NB patients had CD stricturing phenotype(24% vs 19%, p=0,002) compared to MP. Disease extension in CD and UC did not differ between groups. The overall proportion of abdominal or perianal surgery was similar in both groups but the use of biologic therapy was more common in MP(36% vs 30%, p=0,001). Conclusion In the largest cohort of migrant IBD patients in Spain, immigrants were younger, had a shorter disease duration and required a higher use of biologics than natives, pointing phenotypic differences in this population and a universal access to the healthcare system all over the country.

Ideological Boundary-Making: Representing Immigrants in an Anti-Immigration Party

How can migrant organisations affiliated to anti-immigration political parties reconcile their party’s ideology with the representation of immigrants? Based on a website content analysis, this article investigates the representative claims of a migrant group affiliated to the Swiss People’s Party. Comparing them to the discourse of its left-wing counterpart, the findings show that the group sets ideological boundaries between immigrants, establishing a hierarchy that enables it to contrast its members with the immigrants targeted by its party.

Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of migrants to Ireland presenting with a first episode of psychosis

Objectives: When presenting with a first episode of psychosis (FEP), migrants can have different demographic and clinical characteristics to the native-born population and this was examined in an Irish Early Intervention for Psychosis service. Methods: All cases of treated FEP from three local mental health services within a defined catchment area were included. Psychotic disorder diagnoses were determined using the SCID and symptom and functioning domains were measured using validated and reliable measures. Results: From a cohort of 612 people, 21.1% were first-generation migrants and there was no difference in the demographic characteristics, diagnoses, symptoms or functioning between migrants and those born in the Republic of Ireland, except that migrants from Africa presented with less insight. Of those admitted, 48.6% of admissions for migrants were involuntary compared to 37.7% for the native-born population (p = 0.09). Conclusions: First-generation migrants now make up a significant proportion of people presenting with a FEP to an Irish EI for psychosis service. Broadly the demographic and clinical characteristics of migrants and those born in the Republic of Ireland are similar, except for less insight in migrants from Africa and a trend for a higher proportion of involuntary admissions in the total migrant group.

Experience and Prevalence of Dental Caries in 6 to 12-Year-Old School Children in an Agricultural Community: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To describe the experience and prevalence of dental caries in schoolchildren aged 6–12 years belonging to agricultural manual worker households. Material and Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in two groups of schoolchildren: One considered “children of agricultural worker migrant parents” (n = 157) and the other “children of agricultural worker non-migrant parents” (n = 164). Epidemiological indices for dental caries were calculated for primary (dmft) and permanent (DMFT) dentitions, and compared in terms of age, sex, and the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (SOHI). Two binary logistic regression models for caries prevalence in primary and permanent dentitions were generated in Stata. Results: For primary dentition, we observed the following dmft index: Non-migrants = 1.73 ± 2.18 vs. migrants = 1.68 ± 2.14. Additionally, we recorded the following caries prevalence: Non-migrants = 59.1% vs. migrants = 51.3%. For permanent dentition, we observed the following DMFT index: Non-migrants = 0.32 ± 0.81 vs. migrants = 0.29 ± 0.95. Further, we recorded the following caries prevalence: Non-migrants = 17.6% vs. migrants = 12.8%. No differences were observed for either dentition (p > 0.05) in caries indices and their components or in caries prevalence. When both caries indices (dmft and DMFT) were combined, the non-migrant group had a higher level of caries experience than the migrant group (p < 0.05). No relationship (p > 0.05) with migrant status was observed in either multivariate models of caries prevalence. However, age did exhibit an association (p < 0.05) with caries. Only the plaque component of SOHI was associated (p < 0.05) with caries in permanent dentition. Conclusions: Although over half of school children from agricultural manual worker households had caries in either or both dentitions and a considerable proportion were untreated lesions, the prevalence levels were somewhat lower than other reports from Mexico in similar age groups. No statistically significant differences were found in caries experience or prevalence in either dentition between non-migrant and migrant groups.