Traumatic events, daily stressors and posttraumatic stress in unaccompanied young refugees during their flight : a longitudinal cross-country study
- Author
- Elisa Pfeiffer, Malte Behrendt, Sarah Adeyinka (UGent) , Ines Devlieger (UGent) , Marina Rota (UGent) , Océane Uzureau (UGent) , Floor Verhaeghe (UGent) , Ine Lietaert (UGent) and Ilse Derluyn (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
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- CHILDMOVE (The impact of flight experiences on the psychological wellbeing of unaccompanied refugee minors)
- Abstract
- Background Unaccompanied young refugees constitute an especially vulnerable population, reporting high rates of trauma and mental health problems. There is a significant gap in the literature on trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in unaccompanied young refugees who are still on the move and live in precarious circumstances such as refugee camps. This study therefore aimed to contribute to this gap by investigating pre- and peri-migration (potentially) traumatic experiences of unaccompanied young refugees; longitudinal trajectories of trauma, daily stressors and PTSS; and the impact of gender, trauma, and daily stressors on PTSS over time. Methods This longitudinal, mixed-method, and multi-country study was conducted in various settings (e.g. refugee camps, reception centers) across nine European countries. A heterogeneous sample of N = 187 unaccompanied young refugees (78.4% male) from 29 different countries was assessed via interviews at 3 time-points during a period of 27 months. Data was analyzed via growth curve modelling. Results Prevalence rates of (potentially) traumatic experiences ranged from 29.5 to 91.9%. Peri-migration traumatization remained stable over time (b = - 0.02; p = 0.371), but the number of reported daily stressors (b = - 0.24; p = 0.001) and PTSS scores significantly decreased over time (b = - 0.98; p = 0.004). Females reported higher PTSS compared with males at baseline (p = 0.002), but gender did not influence the longitudinal trajectory of PTSS. The pre-migration trauma load and daily stressors at baseline did not have a significant effect on PTSS at baseline or on the longitudinal trajectory. Conclusions This is the first study to document not only the high numbers of traumatic events for unaccompanied young refugees pre- and peri- migration, but also the continued traumatization during flight, as well as high rates of daily stressors and PTSS. Humanitarian and political assistance is urgently needed to curb the often life-threatening conditions unaccompanied young refugees face during migration.
- Keywords
- Psychiatry and Mental health, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Unaccompanied young refugee, Youth, Trauma, PTSS, Flight, Daily stressor, MENTAL-HEALTH, ADOLESCENTS, EXPERIENCES, CHILDREN
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8748521
- MLA
- Pfeiffer, Elisa, et al. “Traumatic Events, Daily Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress in Unaccompanied Young Refugees during Their Flight : A Longitudinal Cross-Country Study.” CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022, doi:10.1186/s13034-022-00461-2.
- APA
- Pfeiffer, E., Behrendt, M., Adeyinka, S., Devlieger, I., Rota, M., Uzureau, O., … Derluyn, I. (2022). Traumatic events, daily stressors and posttraumatic stress in unaccompanied young refugees during their flight : a longitudinal cross-country study. CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-022-00461-2
- Chicago author-date
- Pfeiffer, Elisa, Malte Behrendt, Sarah Adeyinka, Ines Devlieger, Marina Rota, Océane Uzureau, Floor Verhaeghe, Ine Lietaert, and Ilse Derluyn. 2022. “Traumatic Events, Daily Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress in Unaccompanied Young Refugees during Their Flight : A Longitudinal Cross-Country Study.” CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-022-00461-2.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Pfeiffer, Elisa, Malte Behrendt, Sarah Adeyinka, Ines Devlieger, Marina Rota, Océane Uzureau, Floor Verhaeghe, Ine Lietaert, and Ilse Derluyn. 2022. “Traumatic Events, Daily Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress in Unaccompanied Young Refugees during Their Flight : A Longitudinal Cross-Country Study.” CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH 16 (1). doi:10.1186/s13034-022-00461-2.
- Vancouver
- 1.Pfeiffer E, Behrendt M, Adeyinka S, Devlieger I, Rota M, Uzureau O, et al. Traumatic events, daily stressors and posttraumatic stress in unaccompanied young refugees during their flight : a longitudinal cross-country study. CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH. 2022;16(1).
- IEEE
- [1]E. Pfeiffer et al., “Traumatic events, daily stressors and posttraumatic stress in unaccompanied young refugees during their flight : a longitudinal cross-country study,” CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022.
@article{8748521, abstract = {{Background Unaccompanied young refugees constitute an especially vulnerable population, reporting high rates of trauma and mental health problems. There is a significant gap in the literature on trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in unaccompanied young refugees who are still on the move and live in precarious circumstances such as refugee camps. This study therefore aimed to contribute to this gap by investigating pre- and peri-migration (potentially) traumatic experiences of unaccompanied young refugees; longitudinal trajectories of trauma, daily stressors and PTSS; and the impact of gender, trauma, and daily stressors on PTSS over time. Methods This longitudinal, mixed-method, and multi-country study was conducted in various settings (e.g. refugee camps, reception centers) across nine European countries. A heterogeneous sample of N = 187 unaccompanied young refugees (78.4% male) from 29 different countries was assessed via interviews at 3 time-points during a period of 27 months. Data was analyzed via growth curve modelling. Results Prevalence rates of (potentially) traumatic experiences ranged from 29.5 to 91.9%. Peri-migration traumatization remained stable over time (b = - 0.02; p = 0.371), but the number of reported daily stressors (b = - 0.24; p = 0.001) and PTSS scores significantly decreased over time (b = - 0.98; p = 0.004). Females reported higher PTSS compared with males at baseline (p = 0.002), but gender did not influence the longitudinal trajectory of PTSS. The pre-migration trauma load and daily stressors at baseline did not have a significant effect on PTSS at baseline or on the longitudinal trajectory. Conclusions This is the first study to document not only the high numbers of traumatic events for unaccompanied young refugees pre- and peri- migration, but also the continued traumatization during flight, as well as high rates of daily stressors and PTSS. Humanitarian and political assistance is urgently needed to curb the often life-threatening conditions unaccompanied young refugees face during migration.}}, articleno = {{26}}, author = {{Pfeiffer, Elisa and Behrendt, Malte and Adeyinka, Sarah and Devlieger, Ines and Rota, Marina and Uzureau, Océane and Verhaeghe, Floor and Lietaert, Ine and Derluyn, Ilse}}, issn = {{1753-2000}}, journal = {{CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH}}, keywords = {{Psychiatry and Mental health,Pediatrics,Perinatology and Child Health,Unaccompanied young refugee,Youth,Trauma,PTSS,Flight,Daily stressor,MENTAL-HEALTH,ADOLESCENTS,EXPERIENCES,CHILDREN}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{12}}, title = {{Traumatic events, daily stressors and posttraumatic stress in unaccompanied young refugees during their flight : a longitudinal cross-country study}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-022-00461-2}}, volume = {{16}}, year = {{2022}}, }
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