Peter Thisted Dinesen

When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do: The Acculturation of Generalized Trust among Immigrants in Western Europe

The purpose of the article is to examine whether an acculturation of trust takes place among non-western immigrants upon migrating to Western Europe and whether inclusionary integration policies have an effect on this process. Building on the second and third wave of the European Social Survey (ESS) we show that an acculturation of trust does take place, but that integration policy does not affect this process. In spite of some variation across destination countries, we also find that second generation immigrants tend to adapt more to the level of trust of natives in the destination country than first generation immigrants do. This indicates that the acculturation of trust is strengthened with the second generation in the country. The results hold up when controlling for confounding variables including the trust in the country of origin of immigrants.

Ethnic Diversity and Social Trust: Evidence from the Micro-Context

We argue that residential exposure to ethnic diversity reduces social trust. Previous within-country analyses of the relationship between contextual ethnic diversity and trust have been conducted at higher levels of aggregation, thus ignoring substantial variation in actual exposure to ethnic diversity. In contrast, we analyze how ethnic diversity of the immediate micro-context—where interethnic exposure is inevitable—affects trust. We do this using Danish survey data linked with register-based data, which enables us to obtain precise measures of the ethnic diversity of each individual’s residential surroundings. We focus on contextual diversity within a radius of 80 meters of a given individual, but we also compare the effect in the micro-context to the impact of diversity in more aggregate contexts. Our results show that ethnic diversity in the micro-context affects trust negatively, whereas the effect vanishes in larger contextual units. This supports the conjecture that interethnic exposure underlies the negative relationship between ethnic diversity in residential contexts and social trust.

The Civic Personality: Personality and Democratic Citizenship

This article examines the foundations of democratic citizenship along three dimensions: generalised trust in other people; norms of citizenship; and participation in organisations. Contrary to previous research, which mainly focuses on situational factors, this article scrutinises how individual predispositions, in terms of personality traits, influence the three dimensions of democratic citizenship. In accordance with recent research, personality is conceptualised according to the Big Five personality model encompassing the five traits Openness (to experience), Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Based on a nationally representative Danish survey, which includes a 60-item Big Five personality inventory, we show that personality traits to a considerable extent influence all three dimensions of democratic citizenship. Furthermore, for norms of citizenship and organisational involvement, the personality traits have differential impacts contingent on the norm and type of organisational involvement in question.

The association between physical morbidity and subtypes of severe depression

Background: Physical illness and depression are related, but the association between specific physical diseases and diagnostic subtypes of depression remains poorly understood. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between a number of physical diseases and the nonpsychotic and psychotic subtype of severe depression. Methods: This is a historical prospective cohort study. The study population consisted of all patients diagnosed with ICD-10 severe depression, either nonpsychotic or psychotic subtype, in Danish psychiatric hospitals between 1994 and 2008. The patients’ history of physical disease was assessed using the Danish National Patient Register. Using logistic regression it was investigated whether specific physical diseases were associated with relative increased risk for subsequent development of either the nonpsychotic or psychotic depressive subtype. Results: A total of 24,173 patients with severe depression were included in the study. Of those, 8,260 (34%) were of the psychotic subtype. A history of the following physical diseases, as opposed to their absence, increased the relative risk for subsequent development of the nonpsychotic compared to the psychotic depressive subtype [adjusted incidence odds ratio (AIOR) nonpsychotic vs. psychotic]: ischemic heart disease (AIOR = 1.3, p < 0.001), hypertension (AIOR = 1.2, p = 0.008), stroke (AIOR = 1.2, p = 0.042) and chronic lower pulmonary disease (AIOR = 1.2, p = 0.005). The total load of physical disease also increased the relative risk of nonpsychotic depression [AIOR = 1.05 (per disease), p = 0.001]. Conclusions: This study revealed that, in severe depression, a history of physical disease increased the relative risk of the nonpsychotic rather than the psychotic subtype.

The Danish political twin study: political traits in Danish twins and the general population.

We compare a recent Danish twin survey on political attitudes and behaviors to a nationally representative survey covering similar topics. We find very similar means and variances for most of our constructed scales of political attitudes and behaviors in the two surveys, although even small differences tend to be statistically significant due to sample size. This suggests that the twin study can be used to make inferences on the heritability of several political traits in the Danish population.

Reconsidering the Neighborhood Effect: Does Exposure to Residential Unemployment Influence Voters’ Perceptions of the National Economy?

The state of the national economy often directs voting. But how do citizens form perceptions of a complex and abstract macroeconomy? This study examines whether exposure to unemployment in citizens’ immediate residential surroundings shapes their perceptions of the national economy. Using novel data tapping the official proportion of unemployed people residing within radii between 80 and 2,500 meters of an individual’s place of residence, we confront common methodological and theoretical challenges in existing work. Findings show that citizens do rely on cues from their residential microcontexts when forming perceptions of the national economy. Furthermore, we provide evidence that measures of unemployment in more aggregate contexts are not only poor reflections of what individuals are likely to experience in their immediate neighborhood but also seem to capture a different mechanism related to local media exposure.

Daylight Savings Time Transitions and the Incidence Rate of Unipolar Depressive Episodes

Background: Daylight savings time transitions affect approximately 1.6 billion people worldwide. Prior studies have documented associations between daylight savings time transitions and adverse health outcomes, but it remains unknown whether they also cause an increase in the incidence rate of depressive episodes. This seems likely because daylight savings time transitions affect circadian rhythms, which are implicated in the etiology of depressive disorder. Therefore, we investigated the effects of daylight savings time transitions on the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Methods: Using time series intervention analysis of nationwide data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register from 1995 to 2012, we compared the observed trend in the incidence rate of hospital contacts for unipolar depressive episodes after the transitions to and from summer time to the predicted trend in the incidence rate. Results: The analyses were based on 185,419 hospital contacts for unipolar depression and showed that the transition from summer time to standard time were associated with an 11% increase (95% CI = 7%, 15%) in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes that dissipated over approximately 10 weeks. The transition from standard time to summer time was not associated with a parallel change in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Conclusion: This study shows that the transition from summer time to standard time was associated with an increase in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes. Distress associated with the sudden advancement of sunset, marking the coming of a long period of short days, may explain this finding. See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B179.

Reacting to Neighborhood Cues Political Sophistication Moderates the Effect of Exposure to Immigrants

Drawing on insights from political psychology regarding political information processing, this paper argues that politically sophisticated individuals are less sensitive to the social cues manifested in the ethnic composition of their neighborhood when they form political opinions. This prediction is founded on politically sophisticated individuals having a greater comprehension of news and other mass-mediated sources, which makes them less likely to rely on neighborhood cues as sources of information relevant for political attitudes. Based on a unique panel data set with fine-grained information about the ethnic composition of the immediate neighborhood, the paper finds consistent support for the hypothesis: While neighborhood exposure to non-Western immigrants reduces anti-immigration attitudes among individuals with low political sophistication, there is no effect among individuals with high political sophistication. These results thus partially support contact theory and demonstrate that integrating the information processing and ethnic diversity literatures enhances our understanding of outgroup exposure effects.

Increased Incidence Rate of Trauma- and Stressor-related Disorders in Denmark After the Breivik Attacks in Norway

Background: On 22 July 2011, Anders Breivik killed 77 adults and children in Norway. Having recently documented increases in the incidence of trauma- and stressor-related disorders in Denmark after the 9/11 attacks, we hypothesized that the Breivik attacks—due to their geographic proximity—would be followed by even larger increases in Denmark. Methods: Using population-based data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register (1995–2012), we conducted an intervention analysis of the change in the incidence of trauma- and stressor-related disorders after the Breivik attacks. Results: The incidence rate increased by 16% over the following 1½ years after the Breivik attacks, corresponding to 2736 additional cases. In comparison, 9/11 was followed by a 4% increase. We also present evidence of a subsequent surge in incidence stimulated by media attention. Conclusion: This study bolsters previous findings on extra-national consequences of terrorism and indicates that geographic proximity and media coverage may exacerbate effects.

P02-75 - Psychiatric morbidity preceding psychotic and non-psychotic depression

Introduction Psychotic depression differs significantly from non-psychotic depression in many aspects. These differences comprise etiology, severity, treatment response and prognosis. Objectives/aims The aim of the study was to assess the diversity of the psychiatric morbidity preceding psychotic and non-psychotic depression. Methods Danish, register-based, nationwide cohort study. Subjects were all Danish residents assigned with an ICD-10 diagnosis of severe depression with- (F32.3 and F33.3) or without (F32.2 and F33.2) psychotic symptoms between January 1st 1994 and December 31st 2007. Psychiatric diagnoses preceding the severe depression were assessed through the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register. It was investigated whether patients with psychotic depression had a history of more diverse/severe psychiatric morbidity and a different use of psychopharmacological drugs prior to index, compared to their non-psychotic counterparts. Results The study included 29,254 subjects with severe depression. Of these, 9,768 patients (33%) were of the psychotic subtype while 19,576 (67%) were non-psychotic. Patients with the psychotic depressive subtype had a psychiatric history involving more and longer admission, more diverse diagnoses and a different pattern of psychopharmacological treatment compared to their non-psychotic counterparts. The results indicate, that psychotic depression may be more related to the bipolar/schizophrenia/psychosis spectrum than to the depression/anxiety spectrum. Conclusions The results add to a growing body of literature proving fundamental differences between psychotic- and non-psychotic severe depression. This should be considered in the upcoming revisions of the current diagnostic classifications.