Mental health among Sweden Finns: A systematic scoping review

Sweden Finns are one of five officially recognized national minority groups in Sweden. As a group, Sweden Finns have been socioeconomically underprivileged in comparison with the Swedish majority population, and tend to be worse off in terms of somatic health. However, the literature on mental health among Sweden Finns has not previously been systematically appraised. The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize the available evidence on mental health among Sweden Finns or, when the minority terminology is not used in the literature, among individuals in Sweden with a Finnish background (including the so-called Finnish war children). Systematic literature searches in MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PsychINFO were performed. A total of 46 publications met the inclusion criteria; however, very few made use of the self-identification principle central to official Swedish minority politics. The synthesized evidence shows that Sweden Finns tend to be worse off in terms of mental health compared with the Swedish-born majority population, even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. They are more often diagnosed with various serious psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Alcohol and other substance-use disorders are also more common. Moreover, substantially higher suicide rates are consistently reported in this group, although no recent studies exist. The few published qualitative studies emphasize the importance of cultural competence in the care of elderly Sweden Finns with neurocognitive deficits. More qualitative and ethnographically oriented research is needed to explore causal pathways behind the observed patterns and to guide potential preventive measures.