Original articleMental Health Problems in Separated Refugee Adolescents
Section snippets
Study setting and design
The study was conducted in language classes for newly arrived, 11-year to 18-year-old, non-Dutch-speaking adolescents in Flanders (Belgium). In these language classes, adolescents having too little knowledge of the Dutch language can take language courses for an entire school year. From the 42 schools organizing these classes, 34 were randomly selected to participate. After a description of the study to the participants, their written informed consent was obtained, and they completed,
Demographic and social characteristics
Table 1 gives some demographic and social characteristics of the study group, divided in subgroups according to the person the adolescent is currently living with. Refugee adolescents separated from both parents are somewhat older than accompanied refugee adolescents, F(4) = 18.31, p = .000, and almost two-thirds of the unaccompanied refugee minors are male (χ2 = 8.71, df = 4; p = .069) (Table 1). The participants originate from 94 different countries, with as main countries of origin Morocco
Discussion
Separation from parents clearly is associated with a poorer mental health of adolescents, certainly when also other aggravating factors, such as migration, are involved. This study clearly shows how separation from both parents for refugee adolescents is linked to higher risks on developing serious mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms [25], [26]. The high prevalence of mental health problems in unaccompanied refugee adolescents (between 41% and
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to all participating children and adolescents.
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This study was supported by a Ph.D. Bursary of the Special Research Fund of Ghent University.