The mental health needs of child and adolescent refugee and asylum seekers entering Europe

Sapthiang, S, Van Gordon, W ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5648-3043, Shonin, E and Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, 2019. The mental health needs of child and adolescent refugee and asylum seekers entering Europe. Social Health and Behavior, 2 (1), pp. 13-16. ISSN 2589-9767

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Abstract

Children and adolescents constitute more than half of the global refugee population and almost one-third of first-time asylum seekers in the European Union (EU) during 2015 were under 18 years of age. Syria in particular accounts for a substantial proportion of young refugees and asylum seekers because the ongoing civil war has led to almost five million Syrians fleeing their country and becoming refugees during the past seven years. Being a child or adolescent refugee or asylum seeker carries an increased risk of developing mental illness, and such displaced young people are known to experience problems in assessing healthcare support. The present paper draws on examples from Syria in order to (i) highlight mental health issues that typically arise in children and adolescent refugees and asylum seekers entering Europe, and (ii) discuss how changes to health systems and policies in European countries receiving refugees and asylum seekers can be better aligned with global efforts to improve the mental health of young displaced immigrants. In general, research findings indicate that there is a need for better awareness, intra-agency collaboration, and cultural sensitivity towards the mental health needs of this immigrant population. Furthermore, there is also a need for EU countries to better respond to post-traumatic stress disorder and other typical refugee and asylum seeker mental health problems by more closely aligning national policies with global initiatives to improve the mental health of young displaced immigrants.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Social Health and Behavior
Creators:	Sapthiang, S., Van Gordon, W., Shonin, E. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	Wolters Kluwer - Medknow on behalf of the Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
Date:	2019
Volume:	2
Number:	1
ISSN:	2589-9767
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.4103/SHB.SHB_38_18 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jill Tomkinson
Date Added:	03 Dec 2018 16:32
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2022 15:50
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/35211

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