Survivors of Hell: Resilience Amongst Unaccompanied Minor Refugees and Implications for Treatment- a Narrative Review

Abstract

Approximately half of the world’s displaced population are children and a significant proportion of these are unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). UASC are the most vulnerable of all refugee populations. Up to 90% of UASC have been subjected to exploitation, including trafficking or being drafted into military groups. Having survived the perils of flight, UASC are confronted with continued challenges, including the uncertainties regarding their residential rights in host counties. Unsurprisingly, the prevalence of mental health problems is higher amongst UASC than in any other refugee group. Yet, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) appears to neither reach nor engage UASC. This begs for re-examination of what and how MHPSS is offered. Despite high levels of adversity, UASC often have considerable resilience, and make remarkable recoveries. However, literature exploring their resources or their own views of what helps or hinders recovery is scarce. In this narrative review, we explore individual and systemic factors promoting recovery in UASC. We consider theoretical understanding of resilience, emerging data and user perspectives. From these we deduct four areas of resilience in UASC: Individual factors – prosocial behaviour, problem-solving skills; Lifetime relationships – positive early family relationships, connection with family and country of origin, positive peer and adult relationships in host country; Acculturation – integration of own and new culture, positive relationships with prosocial institutions; Care arrangements – supported but less restrictive living arrangements. We suggest, MHPSS may need to focus on enhancing social networks, including connectedness with positive relationships in the home-country, life-history work with a focus on resource-building experiences in addition to trauma, and promoting integration of old and new cultural values. We also conclude that despite growing data, there is a gap in both eliciting user perspectives and understanding adaptive resources, especially those emerging during early development and within their cultural setting.

The impact of experiencing severe physical abuse in childhood on adolescent refugees’ emotional distress and integration during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The present results confirmed that refugees with higher integration scores showed less emotional distress -and vice versa (Berry, 2005;Behrens et al, 2015;Han et al, 2016). In a previous study, integration has been shown to increase resilience in unaccompanied refugee minors (Rodriguez and Dobler, 2021). Among factors influencing successful integration, the cultural distance between refugees and the host country has been emphasized.…”

Integrating Middle East and North Africa Unaccompanied Minors Refugees and Asylum Seekers through Mentoring: Exploring Eu-Based Research to Inform Future Applications in Portugal

“…Peer mentoring has been stated as a strategy implemented in few EU countries for the integration of refugees and asylum seekers (Atkinson, 2018;Jaschke et al, 2022;Rodriguez & Dobler, 2021;Thommessen et al, 2015). Studies assessing EU-based mentoring programs for Middle East and North African refugees and asylum seekers are scarce.…”

Psychological Resilience to Suicidal Experiences in People with Non-Affective Psychosis: A Position Paper

“…Psychological resilience has been studied across many domains. These domains have included, but are not limited to, neurobiological underpinnings [ 36 ]; children who have survived immense traumas including witnessing domestic violence [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]; war veterans and disaster survivors [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]; those in college and university education [ 45 , 46 ]; competitive sports performers [ 47 ]; refugees [ 48 ]; military personnel [ 49 , 50 ]; end-of-life care [ 51 ]; in front line health care staff [ 52 , 53 ]; in people with severe mental health problems [ 1 , 33 , 35 , 54 , 55 ]; and in community minorities with respect to ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. One of the main issues with such diversity is that conceptualisations of resilience can become exceptionally broad and lacking in clarity [ 1 , 4 , 60 ].…”