A systematic review of studies on resilience and risk and protective factors for health among refugee children in Nordic countries

Abstract

The Nordic welfare model is often used as an example for the promotion of health and wellbeing, even in vulnerable groups of children, such as refugees. Nonetheless, there are no published reviews on resilience and/or risk and protective factors for physical and mental health among refugee children living in Nordic countries. In this systematic review, we identified 5181 studies on the topic, screened titles, and abstracts, viewed 632, and finally included 26 studies. These studies described 18 samples with a total of 34,080 individuals ranging in ages 0–18 years. Overall, the studies were of good quality. Nearly all studies assessed adversity. Six studies reported physical health outcomes and all studies mental health outcomes, most often post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. None explicitly studied resilience. While we found that age and sex are the most frequently studied risk- and protective factors, findings are inconclusive, since the direction of the associations was different in the different studies. This systematic review indicates that there is still a need for well-designed and -powered studies using clear definitions of key study concepts to examine health outcomes and resilience among refugee children in Nordic countries.

Resilience, mental health, and exposure to violence among individuals with former or current experiences of being a refugee in Sweden : quantitative and qualitative studies

“…The results also identified being unaccompanied as a risk factor for mental health problems among refugee children. While previous research from the Nordic countries has shown varied results (Mattelin et al, 2022b), international studies have consistently indicated it as a risk factor (Fazel et al, 2012).…”

“…Prisma flow-chart diagram (Mattelin, Paidar, Söderlind, Fröberg, & Korhonen, 2022b) Notably, none of the studies explicitly examined resilience, and only a few examined into the study of risk-and protective factors, often in a vague manner. Therefore, we clarified whether the studied associations fulfilled the basic criteria for the classification of riskand protective factors.…”

The Mediating Role of Resilience in the Relationship between Social Exclusion and Sleep Parameters in Refugee Children

“…It has been found that children and women constitute the group with the largest population among the refugee group that migrated to Turkey. Situations such as the detention of parents or children themselves, witnessing the loss or death of parents, and separation from families have resulted in the emergence of a series of psychological, emotional and social problems in refugee children during their migration with the impact of the war (5,6). Families and children have been reported to experience a range of mental health problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleep disturbances and behavioural disorders, despite living for long periods of time in countries where they have sought asylum (7)(8)(9).…”

“…Families and children have been reported to experience a range of mental health problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleep disturbances and behavioural disorders, despite living for long periods of time in countries where they have sought asylum (7)(8)(9). Systematic analyses have highlighted that children's negative experiences such as exposure to violence during migration, war experiences, losses and separations are associated with different mental health problems (5,6). While many studies in literature focus on mental health problems of refugee children, social exclusion, isolation and sleep problems have not been addressed (10)(11)(12).…”

Swedish Courts’ Evaluations of Interpreter-Mediated Child Investigative Interviews

“…The most common countries of origin for these children were Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq (Swedish Migration Agency, 2022). Children have to flee their country of origin for numerous reasons, including armed conflicts, famine, and human right violations (Mattelin et al, 2022). Moreover, children in migration might have experienced adversities, including violent and traumatic events, both before and after fleeing their home country (Mattelin et al, 2021).…”