Well-Being and Resources of Minors With Refugee Background in 					Comparison to Minors With Migration or Native Background

Schmees, Pia; Braig, Johanna; Nilles, Hannah; Kerkhoff, Denise; Demir, Zeynep; Rueth, Jana-Elisa; Lohaus, Arnold; Eschenbeck, Heike

doi:10.1027/2512-8442/a000099

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Procedure and participants. Cross-sectional baseline data from a longitudinal dataset collected by the YOURHEALTH consortium were utilized in this study [36][37][38] . Data collection took place between February 2019 and November 2020 in schools and refugee accommodations, located across three federal states in Northern and Southern Germany.…”

Section: Quantitative Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Asylum seeking and refugee adolescents’ mental health service use and help-seeking patterns: a mixed-methods study

Namer

Freţian

Podar

et al. 2022

npj Mental Health Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Almost a third of all people who entered Germany to seek protection since 2010 were under the age of 18. Asylum-seeking and refugee (ASR) adolescents in Germany face reduced entitlements to healthcare and experience barriers in accessing mental healthcare, despite documented mental health needs. This mixed-methods study aims to describe the mental health needs and service use of ASR adolescents in Germany and identify the predictors of their help-seeking patterns. Here we report findings of cross-sectional data collected between February 2019 and November 2020 in schools and refugee accommodations in three German federal states. Our subsample consists of ASR between the ages of 11 and 18, coming from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq (N = 216). Cross-sectional data are supplemented by semi-structured interviews with nine mental health professionals in one region of the study. Our findings reveal an underutilization of mental health services relative to the emotional difficulties reported. Perceived and experienced access barriers, age, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms predict different help-seeking patterns. Psychotherapy-related social resources, as well as reporting of emotional difficulties, are predictors of actual or intended psychotherapeutic service utilization. Based on our quantitative and qualitative findings, we highlight the need for widespread, accessible, and low-threshold mental health initiatives designed to work with ASR adolescents, for additional assistance in navigating the mental healthcare system, as well as for support to important people in ASR adolescents’ lives who fill the gap between mental health needs and accessible mental healthcare services.

show abstract

Section: Quantitative Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Asylum seeking and refugee adolescents’ mental health service use and help-seeking patterns: a mixed-methods study

Namer

Freţian

Podar

et al. 2022

npj Mental Health Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We decided to widen the scope to include also other studies reporting on results from other projects. Two papers report on the project from Bielefeld and Schwäbisch Gmünd: Schmees et al (2022) focus on the well-being and resources of minors with a refugee background and compare these children and adolescents with minors with a migration or native background. The main topic of Nilles et al (2022) concerns the coping of young refugees in Germany, with a specific focus on gender differences and gender role attitudes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Health and Well-Being of Refugee Children and Adolescents

2022

European Journal of Health Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

According to the UN Refugee Agency data, at the end of 2020, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order (UNHCR, 2021). Many of them are refugees (26.4 million), and about half were under the age of 18. At the end of 2019, approximately 10% of all refugees lived in the EU, which amounts to 0.6% of the EU population (European Commission, 2021). In total, there were 2.6 million refugees in Europe until the end of 2019.As refugees are frequently exposed to traumatic experiences before, during, or after fleeing, they represent a particularly vulnerable group. Such traumatic experiences include war or persecution, other life-threatening events, or family separation. In addition, refugees rarely have full access to the healthcare system in their host country, thereby substantially increasing an already elevated risk for several adverse health and social outcomes (Helgesson et al., 2021). Not only individual events experienced as intensely stressful can be triggers for mental health problems, but also poly-victimization experiences leading to cumulative effects (Finkelhor et al., 2011). Increased prevalence rates of mental disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety) and stress-related somatic complaints (e.g., pain) are, therefore, common in refugees. In particular, high rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been observed in refugees, with an approximately 10-fold higher risk for PTSD among refugees compared to age-matched native populations (Fazel et al., 2005;Mölsä et al., 2014). Adverse outcomes are even more likely if there is a lack of social resources, particularly the case for young unaccompanied refugees (Jensen et al., 2014).In general, the mental and physical health of refugees is an important issue for health psychology research. Such research can expand our knowledge on the epidemiology of health-related problems and to better understand causes

show abstract

Religious Identity and its Relation to Health-Related Quality of Life and COVID-Related Stress of Refugee Children and Adolescents in Germany

Schmees,

Braig,

Kilinc

et al. 2023

J Relig Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research shows that religious identity is associated with health. The aim of this study was to understand the role of religious identity for refugee minors’ health in greater detail. Middle Eastern refugee minors resettled in Germany and aged 8–18 years completed questionnaires at baseline (T1, n = 246) and follow-up (T2, n = 122) measurement between 2019 and 2022. Religious identity was assessed with a 4-item measure (Cronbach’s α = .89). Associations of religious identity at T1 with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at T1, change in HRQoL from T1 to T2, and perceived COVID-related stress at T2, as well as the mediating role of resources were examined. The results showed a positive association between religious identity and HRQoL, which was partially mediated by integration into peer group, but not by ethnic identity, sense of coherence or religious practice. No significant associations between religious identity and change in HRQoL or COVID-related stress occurred. Therefore, cross-sectional analyses support the beneficial role of religious identity for HRQoL and the crucial mediating role of integration into peer group, suggesting the promotion of religious identity or peer group integration. However, the absence of significant effects on change in HRQoL from T1 to T2 and COVID-related stress at T2 do not allow drawing any long-term conclusions.

show abstract

Well-Being and Resources of Minors With Refugee Background in Comparison to Minors With Migration or Native Background

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

Asylum seeking and refugee adolescents’ mental health service use and help-seeking patterns: a mixed-methods study

Asylum seeking and refugee adolescents’ mental health service use and help-seeking patterns: a mixed-methods study

Health and Well-Being of Refugee Children and Adolescents

Religious Identity and its Relation to Health-Related Quality of Life and COVID-Related Stress of Refugee Children and Adolescents in Germany

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About