Effects of the asylum process on the mental health of unaccompanied young refugees – A scoping review

Abstract

A wide range of studies have shown that unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) exhibit a high risk of developing mental health problems. During the past two decades, there has been growing research interest in investigating risk factors after arrival in a host country. To date, a systematic understanding of how aspects of the asylum process affect the mental health of URMs remains lacking. In this scoping review, a systematic literature search of four databases and search engines was performed. Ten studies conducted in European countries were included in this narrative review. The asylum process as a risk factor was mainly operationalized through the assessment of asylum or residential status. Mental health outcomes ranged from standardized questionnaires to semi-structured clinical interviews. Refusal of asylum had a negative effect on the well-being of URMs in most of the included longitudinal studies as it produces a situation of instability and fear of return. However, qualitative synthesis of all the study results revealed inconsistent findings on the influence of asylum status and waiting time on PTSD and internalizing symptoms. Therefore, future studies are needed to investigate the role of factors related to the asylum process in the mental health of URMs. Both mixed-methods designs within one country and cross-country studies are recommended.