Emotional Wellbeing of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention

Abstract

Families seeking asylum in the United States are often placed in detention centers after fleeing crime, violence, and government ineffectiveness in their countries. Migration brings more hardship, terror, and trauma. The cumulative psychological and social effects from detention need to be better understood. This exploratory study examines the effects of detention and family separation on immigrant children’s psychosocial wellbeing after released. We recruited 81 Central American children previously detained with their parents to assess their wellbeing since release. A third of the children had been separated from their parents during detention. Over a third of parents and less than a fifth of children reported verbal and psychological abuse by staff and other detainees. Children who reported abuse showed higher anxiety and sense of inadequacy than those who did not. About 12.5% of children met clinical criteria for anxiety while 25% were at high risk, and those who had been released from detention for over a year had more depressive symptoms. To reduce psychological harm, changes in detention policies are needed. Community-based, child-directed, and family-centered interventions can assist with settlement to a new environment and psychological adjustment. Research with larger samples, longitudinal follow-up, refined measures, and qualitative data is needed.