Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Turkish Adolescents and Young Adults in the Netherlands

Turkish adolescents in the Netherlands have more mental health problems, especially emotional problems, than Dutch adolescents. It is unclear what happens with this disparity when adolescents grow up into adults and whether it has consequences for social opportunities in adulthood. Further, little is known about the determinants of mental health problems of Turkish young adults in the Netherlands. In this thesis we will give more insight in the development of Turkish migrant adolescents into young adults with regard to mental health. Herein a comparison is made with the development of Dutch native adolescents. Turkish young adults had more emotional problems than Dutch young adults (chapter 3). These differences were about 50% smaller than the differences in adolescence, due to a larger decrease in emotional problems among the Turkish group (chapter 4). This is a positive development for Turkish youth. In young adulthood cultural adaptation predicted emotional problems (chapter 5). Cultural adaptation was little associated with smoking behavior, but many well-known determinants, in particular low education, were predictors of smoking behavior (chapter 6). Emotional and behavioral problems in adolescence were a risk factor for low educational and occupational attainment for women, and a risk factor for low occupational attainment in men (chapters 7 & 8). Together with the higher prevalence of especially emotional problems in Turkish adolescents, disparities in emotional problems form an important mediator in the development of ethnic disparities in social careers. The main recommendation for policy and mental health care is to improve signaling of emotional problems of Turkish adolescents (especially girls), in order to prevent long-term negative effects on social careers.