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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Social Threat-Safety Test Uncovers Psychosocial Stress-Related Phenotypes
Published on: December 15, 2023
[Psychosocial problems and mental disorders among immigrants of German origin]
Jürgen Kornischka1, Hans-Jörg Assion, Marc Ziegenbein
1Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik am Klinikum Herford, Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover. juergen.kornischka@klinikum-herford.de
Objective:
The number of ethnic German immigrants from former East bloc countries (Aussiedler) has considerably increased during the past 20 years. However, studies on the frequency of psychiatric disorders or on psychosocial risk factors for psychiatric morbidity in this partially inhomogenous population group are remarkably rare.
Method:
We undertook a comprehensive research of the current literature to gain the first systematic review on this issue.
Results:
The most frequent mental disorders among these special group of migrants were depressive disorders, adjustment disorders with brief depressive reactions as well as somatoform disorders, alcoholism and drug dependency.
Conclusions:
Ethnic German immigrants are a risk group for mental disorders.
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