Sind somatoforme Beschwerden und Kausalattributionen bei türkischen Migranten durch den kulturellen Hintergrund oder den Migrationsprozess bestimmt?

Subtitle: Are somatoform complaints and causal attributions in Turkish migrants associated with their cultural background or the migration itself?

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mewes, Ricarda | Rief, Winfried

Note: [] Korrespondenzadresse: Dr. rer. nat. Dipl. Psych. Ricarda Mewes, Philipps- Universität Marburg, Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie, Gutenbergstraße 18, D-35032 Marburg. Tel.: 06421-3096923 Fax: 06421-30969293; E-mail: mewesr@staff.uni-marburg.de

Abstract: This study investigated the degree to which Turkish migrants in Germany, Turks in Turkey and Germans suffer from somatoform complaints and how these groups differ in reference to causal attributions. 94 Turkish migrants, 183 Turks and 91 Germans were investigated using the Screening for Somatoform Disorders (SOMS-2) and a modified scale for causal illness attributions stemming from the Illness-Perception Questionnaire-revised (IPQ-R). Turkish migrants and Turks suffered from significantly more somatoform complaints than Germans, but they did not differ from each other. The level of education and the employment status also contributed to the number of reported somatoform complaints. The causal attributions did not differ between the three groups. The reported higher number of somatoform complaints among Turkish migrants seems to be mainly associated with their cultural background and their education and employment-status, rather than the migration itself.

Keywords: Somatoform complaints, causal attributions, Turkish migrants, cultural background, education and employment status

Journal: Zeitschrift für Medizinische Psychologie, vol. 18, no. 3-4, pp. 135-139, 2009