Understanding the experiences and emotional needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents in the UK

Abstract

For adolescents who flee to the UK seeking asylum, the experience of leaving their home country puts them at risk of developing mental health problems. Although there is a research base exploring the mental health of asylum-seeking children and adolescents who arrive with their families, there is in contrast very little focusing on the mental health needs of children and adolescents who arrive in the UK alone. There has been ongoing debate about whether current theoretical models for understanding reactions to trauma and loss are helpful in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and adolescents with complex psychological and social issues as a result of fleeing their home countries. This article draws on young people's own understanding of their experiences of seeking asylum in the UK using a qualitative semi-structured interview. It attempts to develop a more contextually relevant understanding of their emotional reactions to adversity and to consider the sorts of support required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to provide an in-depth understanding of six young asylum seekers' experiences, exploring themes of loss, negotiating a new life, psychological distress and the process of adjustment. Psychological interventions and future service provision for this group are discussed.

Mental health in migrant schoolchildren in Italy: teacher-reported behavior and emotional problems

“…A considerable amount of literature describes the psychological distress experienced in migrant children, presenting predominantly as posttraumatic distress, depression, and other symptoms such as irritability, restlessness, sleep problems, somatic symptoms, and conduct disorder 5,6,29,30…”

Being alone or becoming lonely? The complexity of portraying ‘unaccompanied children’ as being alone in Sweden

“…Loneliness and isolation are considered substantial risks to these young people's lives and development (Groark, Sclare, and Raval 2011;Kohli and Mather 2003;Papadopoulus 2002;Wernesjö 2011). This theme is, however, seldom discussed with the young people's own agency in mind; rather it takes its point of departure from the fact that they have been forced to leave their biological parents behind.…”

“…According to previous research, one of the most common problems unaccompanied youth seem to deal with is loneliness or isolation, possibly stemming from the loss of friendship, family or a home (Groark, Sclare, and Raval 2011;Kohli and Mather 2003;Papadopoulus 2002;Wernesjö 2011). The general assumption concerning loneliness as a concept seems to be that it should be considered harmful to the individual, an assumption that is common in the research on psychosocial problems in general.…”

“…Psychosocial health among unaccompanied children has received considerable attention in the research focusing on the risk of developing mental health problems in general (Derluyn and Broekaert 2007;Groark, Sclare, and Raval 2011). These problems could emerge in the form of, for instance, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety or feeling lonely, isolated and like one does not belong.…”

Could the BIC-Q be a decision-support tool to predict the development of asylum-seeking children?

“…In addition to the quality of the childrearing environment, we will investigate whether factors such as the age and sex of the child and the length of stay in the Netherlands are also related to internalizing behavioural problems among asylum-seeking children (Bronstein and Montgomery, 2011;Groark, Sclare, and Raval, 2011;Laban, Gernaat, Komproe, Schreuders, and De Jong, 2004;McCarthy and Marks, 2010).…”