Increased incidence of psychotic disorders in migrants from the Caribbean to the United Kingdom

Abstract

The size of the increase and the methodological safeguards employed support the validity of this now highly replicated finding. A personal or family history of migration from the Caribbean is a major risk factor for psychosis; the consistency of this finding justifies a systematic evaluation of potential aetiological factors. Any hypothesis derived from the evidence so far must explain: increased incidence in first and second generation migrants; increased risk for all psychoses (including affective psychoses); and an effect specifically associated with a migration history from the Caribbean to Northern Europe.