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This study investigated the effects of sociocultural contexts on health and the psychological well-being of immigrant adolescents, aged 15 to 18 years, originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina and now living as displaced persons either in Bosnia, or immigrants in Croatia and Austria. The study addresses the social determinants of health with a specific focus on five factors in the social environment that might have an influence on health status: gender, socio-economic status (SES), perceived discrimination and exposure to violence, social support and religious commitment. Dependent variables included self-rated health, a count of self-reported objective health problems and a range of indices of psychological well-being (somatic stress, anxiety, depression and self-esteem). The purpose of the study was to examine whether social risk factors have an effect on health, which factors mediate these effects on self-rated health and to assess whether these effects differ by gender Results indicate that perceived discrimination and violence are related to poor health through psychological stress as a major mechanism with stronger effects for girls in the study. Differences across the three socio-cultural contexts reveal the complexity and specificity of the relationships between analyzed factors as the association between discrimination and health was attenuated for some groups due to the protective resources of immigrants.

Previous studies have indicated that the acculturation process may contribute to psychosocial and health problems among immigrants through the mediation of acculturation stress. This study focuses on adolescents with immigrant background permanently settled in the Croatian region of Dalmatia and the influences of the acculturation process on their dietary habits, nutritional behavior and perceived body-image. The survey was conducted on the total sample of 510 adolescents (aged 14-19) including 52 first generation and 248 second generation immigrants. The analysis included dietary habits and questions of restrictive diet as indicators of unhealthy influence on physical health. Psychological factors (stress and self-esteem) have been found to be associated with dietary habits, diet behavior and dissatisfaction with body-image among adolescents with significant differences by immigrant status. Immigrant status is viewed as a risk factor for psychological distress and unhealthy dieting behavior. Research stresses the need to study the interaction between acculturation and health not only from an individual perspective, but also from the broader socio-ecological context of population subgroups.

The present paper describes the conceptual framework, rationale and methods of an international comparative study on risk and protective factors of adolescent health and well-being, with particular focus on youth with immigrant (or refugee) experience. This is a comprehensive study on the quality of life and health outcomes of adolescent youth that looks at group-specific differences within different socio-cultural contexts across six European countries, including those of post-conflict communities. The research project combines both quantitative and qualitative methods, using a common set-up across all countries involved with the goal of collecting data on 3,500 adolescents that are strictly comparable to allow cross-country analyses. It is particularly aimed at increasing the understanding of acculturation processes of a particularly sensitive population of adolescent refugees and immigrants and of the influence that the interaction of contextual and developmental factors has on their mental health and psychological well-being.

For several centuries the village populations on the Yugoslav island of Korcula have remained essentially isolated from each other and from the mainland. Historical, linguistic and biological data indicate that systematic population pressure predominantly came from the coastal area of the Balkan peninsula westward onto the island. To examine short and long range migration on the island, data on the place of birth of parents of adult inhabitants (1168 subjects) were presented and migration matrices analysed applying a gamma function. Most examinees were born in the same village as their parents (86.39%); only 6.33% of the parents migrated between villages on the island; and village endogamy is quite high for the past four generations (75%). When inter-village migration has occurred, migration density is greatest at a distance of 8-12 km, rather than from the immediate neighbourhood. Short range migration occurs up to a mean distance of 33.98 km, long range migration over distances greater than 28 km.