Abstract
Background. Despite the frequency of traumatic or stressful events experienced by refugee children and adolescents prior to migration and following resettlement, the majority do not experience mental health problems emphasising the critical nature of resilience. While a host of factors deemed to be protective of mental health in young refugees have been identified, there has been little research exploring the role of resilience as a distinct psychological construct. This study aimed to explore the nature of psychological resilience in refugee adolescents and the relationship between resilience and depression, other emotional and behavioural problems, and mental health service uptake. Method. One hundred and seventy multiethnic refugee adolescents aged 13–17 from South Australia were administered a survey comprising the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results. Females tended to have higher resilience, as did those adolescents who had been living in Australia longer. Adolescents suffering from depressive symptoms or other emotional or behavioural problems had lower resilience. There was little evidence of an association between resilience scores and exposure to trauma or service utilisation. Discussion. Fostering resilience may be critical to efforts to prevent or reduce mental health problems in refugee adolescents.
Highlights
13,750 refugees arrive in Australia each year, with children and adolescents comprising at least half of this number [1]
Our investigation of resilience in refugee adolescents found a mean total score of 62.2 (SD = 20.4), which is lower than that found by Connor and Davidson [23], in the general population (M = 80.4, SD = 12.8), primary care patients (M = 71.8, SD = 18.4), and psychiatric outpatients (M = 68.0, SD = 15.3)
This score was, comparable to that found in generalised anxiety disordered patients (M = 62.4, SD = 10.7) and higher than that found in PTSD patients (M = 47.8, SD = 19.5) [23]
Summary
13,750 refugees arrive in Australia each year, with children and adolescents comprising at least half of this number [1]. Current knowledge suggests that some of these young new arrivals may be at elevated risk of mental health problems associated with a range of traumatic experiences before, during, and after migration [2, 3]. The most commonly reported mental health problems in refugee children are posttraumatic stress disorder and depression though studies have found widely varying rates of incidence. Despite the frequency of traumatic or stressful events experienced by refugee children and adolescents prior to migration and following resettlement, the majority do not experience mental health problems emphasising the critical nature of resilience. This study aimed to explore the nature of psychological resilience in refugee adolescents and the relationship between resilience and depression, other emotional and behavioural problems, and mental health service uptake. Fostering resilience may be critical to efforts to prevent or reduce mental health problems in refugee adolescents
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