Abstract
Various studies have indicated that unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) have a higher risk of suffering from mental health problems than do accompanied minor refugees and general population norm. However, only a few studies provide data on UMRs regarding post-migration risk factors, their interrelations, and their influence on mental health. In this study, system models of post-migration risk factors for mental health and their interactions were developed in the case of Austria. In three consecutive interactive workshops with scientists and practitioners, fuzzy-logic cognitive mapping techniques were used to integrate the experts’ knowledge. The resulting final system model consists of 11 risk factors (e.g., social contacts in the host country, housing situation, or professional health care services). The model provides a deeper insight into the complexity of interrelated direct, indirect, and reciprocal relations, as well as self-reinforcing triads. This systemic approach provides a sound basis for further investigations, taking into account the inherent complex multifactorial dependencies in this topic.
Highlights
During the refugee movements in the years 2014 to 2016, European countries faced a rapidly growing number of refugees and asylum seekers, resulting in a record level of 1.3 million asylum applications in 2015 [1]
Given the complex interplay between post-migration risk factors, mental health status, and country-specific integration conditions, this study focuses on Austria as a country recording a high share of minor asylum applicants [1]
1 and 2 of Medium this study as relations between nodes represented as green arrowsininworkshops three categories: influence well as the final system model evaluated in the course of this study
Summary
During the refugee movements in the years 2014 to 2016, European countries faced a rapidly growing number of refugees and asylum seekers, resulting in a record level of 1.3 million asylum applications in 2015 [1]. 8277 asylum applications were filed by under-age refugees [2]. The number of asylum-seeking applications has been decreasing since 2016, asylum seekers and refugees still represent a persistent issue and an important field of action, especially in terms of the vital matter of ensuring their mental health and well-being. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5058; doi:10.3390/ijerph17145058 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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