Principles of the Mental Health Assessment of Refugee Children and Adolescents

Abstract

This is the first of two chapters that provides a practical guide to assessing the mental health needs and strengths of refugee children and adolescents. This chapter focuses on principles that are critical to understanding how to engage with children (0–18 years old) and their families in a mental health assessment. We will discuss key principles to consider when engaging in a mental health assessment and discuss how the refugee experience may affect the process logistically, socially, and psychologically. While this chapter is focused on the individual assessment of refugee child and adolescent mental health, we want to highlight that underlying the individual assessment is an awareness that the individual is embedded and strongly influenced by family (Chap. 15), community (Chap. 7), and culture (Chap. 2), surrounding the child. Individual assessments should thus be done in concert with community mental health and psychosocial assessment (Chap. 7) in this book.