Two Contexts, One Heritage is a research project funded by Stichting Erasmus Trustfonds examining mental health and substance use among individuals connected to the Dutch Caribbean, across different sociocultural contexts. The project compares people living in the Dutch Caribbean, individuals who migrated from the Dutch Caribbean to the Netherlands, and a control group born and residing in the Netherlands. By taking a cross-cultural perspective, the study aims to better understand how shared heritage and differing social environments shape risk and resilience in mental health and substance use.

The project focuses on the role of early childhood adversity, emotional well-being, emotion regulation strategies, and perceptions of substance use in explaining current mental health and substance use patterns. Using a combination of questionnaires, real-time data collection through experience sampling, and a one-year follow-up, the study captures both day-to-day emotional processes and longer-term developmental trajectories. By identifying similarities and differences across contexts, this research seeks to inform culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies tailored to the needs and lived experiences of each population.