Social support in unaccompanied asylum‐seeking boys: a case study

Mels, Cindy; Derluyn, Ilse; Broekaert, Eric

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2008.00883.x

Cited by 72 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Low levels of social support are an important predictor of mental health problems, including symptoms of PTSD [27]. Indeed, a qualitative study of unaccompanied refugee adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 in Belgium suggested that the provision of social support enhanced their wellbeing [28]. At the time of this study, however, little was known about the characteristics and mental health status of Burmese adolescent students in Thai boarding houses, as few quantitative studies have been conducted to investigate social support in such adolescents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health status among Burmese adolescent students living in boarding houses in Thailand: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2013

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BackgroundIn Tak province of Thailand, a number of adolescent students who migrated from Burma have resided in the boarding houses of migrant schools. This study investigated mental health status and its relationship with perceived social support among such students.MethodsThis cross-sectional study surveyed 428 students, aged 12–18 years, who lived in boarding houses. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL)-37 A, Stressful Life Events (SLE) and Reactions of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress (RATS) questionnaires were used to assess participants’ mental health status and experience of traumatic events. The Medical Outcome Study (MOS) Social Support Survey Scale was used to measure their perceived level of social support. Descriptive analysis was conducted to examine the distribution of sociodemographic characteristics, trauma experiences, and mental health status. Further, multivariate linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between such characteristics and participants’ mental health status.ResultsIn total, 771 students were invited to participate in the study and 428 students chose to take part. Of these students, 304 completed the questionnaire. A large proportion (62.8%) indicated that both of their parents lived in Myanmar, while only 11.8% answered that both of their parents lived in Thailand. The mean total number of traumatic events experienced was 5.7 (standard deviation [SD] 2.9), mean total score on the HSCL-37A was 63.1 (SD 11.4), and mean total score on the RATS was 41.4 (SD 9.9). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that higher number of traumatic events was associated with more mental health problems.ConclusionsMany students residing in boarding houses suffered from poor mental health in Thailand’s Tak province. The number of traumatic experiences reported was higher than expected. Furthermore, these traumatic experiences were associated with poorer mental health status. Rather than making a generalized assumption on the mental health status of migrants or refugees, more detailed observation is necessary to elucidate the unique nature and vulnerabilities of this mobile population.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health status among Burmese adolescent students living in boarding houses in Thailand: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2013

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“…Armed con£ict creates a host of highly stressful social and material conditions that colour the experience of daily life. For example, prolonged violence destroys social networks through the death or displacement of family members and friends, leaving people without access to much needed social support (GorstUnsworth & Goldenberg, 1998;Mels, Derluyn, & Broekaert, 2008;Miller & Rasco, 2004). War also destroys livelihoods, causing or worsening conditions of poverty and poverty related stressors, such as overcrowding and unsafe housing, and lack of access to water, food, and medical care (InterAgency Standing Committee (IASC), 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily stressors in the lives of Sri Lankan youth: a mixed methods approach to assessment in a context of war and natural disaster

Miller¹,

Fernando²,

Berger³

2009

Intervention

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This paper describes the use of a mixed methods design to develop the Sri Lankan Children' s Daily Stressor Scale (CDSS). It brie£y describes its use in a study assessing the relative contribution of daily stressors on the one hand, and war and disaster exposure on the other, to young people' s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.The authors discuss the neglect of daily stressors; the stressful social and material conditions of everyday life in settings of armed con£ict and natural disaster and o¡er a rationale for the importance of assessing daily stressors when seeking to understand and address mental health and psychosocial needs of con£ict and disaster a¡ected youth. A central focus of the paper is on the unique value of a mixed methods approach to contextually sound measure development.

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“…In previous studies separated children in care have been identified as a key support to each other regarding extreme social isolation, anxieties about family members in the home country, fears about the future, managing with the day-to-day challenges of school and adjusting to life in a new country (Goodman, 2004;Mels, Derluyn, & Broekaert, 2008). Most children in this study (69%) were able to establish friendships with peers in Ireland, usually with other residents in the hostels.…”

Section: Family and Social Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 64%