Mental distress in subjects who did, or did not, move from rural Sami core areas to cities in Norway: The impact of Sami ethnicity

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the level of mental distress of Sami and non-Sami residents in rural Sami core areas with that of people who have moved from these areas to cities in Norway. Previous research on mental health among the adult Sami population has mainly been conducted in rural areas, and there is a knowledge gap concerning the mental health of urban Sami. This study has a cross-sectional design and is based on self-administered questionnaires in two different surveys: the SAMINOR 2 Questionnaire Survey (2012) and the survey From Rural to Urban Living (2014). The total analytical sample consists of 5942 individuals: 3955 rural participants (SAMINOR 2) and 1987 urban participants (From Rural to Urban Living). Chi-square tests, two-sample t-tests, and Wilcoxon’s rank sum tests were used for testing differences between the groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to explore the association between place of residence and a continuous mental distress (HSCL-10) score. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between place of residence and the prevalence of mental distress, as defined as a HSCL-10 score of ≥1.85. The analyses were stratified by gender and Sami and non-Sami ethnicity. The results show that when comparing people who have moved to a city with people living in rural areas, differences in mental distress were found among non-Sami women only, with a lower level of mental distress in urban non-Sami women. In men, regardless of ethnicity and in Sami women, living in rural or urban areas did not make a difference in their mental distress status.