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The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya

BACKGROUND: The high trauma load and prevalence of mental distress in unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) who resettle in Western (European) countries is well documented. However, the lack of studies investigating the potentially most vulnerable population, URMs who are currently on the move in tran...

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Autores principales: Derluyn, Ilse, Orsini, Giacomo, Verhaeghe, Floor, Elhaj, Rihab, Lietaert, Ine, Pfeiffer, Elisa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9885330/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36601723
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.622
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author Derluyn, Ilse
Orsini, Giacomo
Verhaeghe, Floor
Elhaj, Rihab
Lietaert, Ine
Pfeiffer, Elisa
author_facet Derluyn, Ilse
Orsini, Giacomo
Verhaeghe, Floor
Elhaj, Rihab
Lietaert, Ine
Pfeiffer, Elisa
author_sort Derluyn, Ilse
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The high trauma load and prevalence of mental distress in unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) who resettle in Western (European) countries is well documented. However, the lack of studies investigating the potentially most vulnerable population, URMs who are currently on the move in transit countries such as Libya, is alarming. AIMS: To document the mental health of URMs detained in Libya and the possible associations with trauma, flight and daily hardships. METHOD: In total n = 99 (94.9% male; n = 93) URMs participated in this cross-sectional study conducted in four detention centres near the Libyan capital Tripoli. Data were collected via standardised questionnaires in an interview format and analysed using structured equation modelling. RESULTS: Participants reported high rates of trauma, especially within Libya itself. Reports of daily hardships in detention ranged between 40 and 95% for basic needs and between 27 and 80% for social needs. Higher social needs were associated with increased anxiety symptoms (β = 0.59; P = 0.028) and increased pre-migration (β = 0.10; P = 0.061) and peri-migration trauma (β = 0.16; P = 0.017) with symptoms of depression. Similarly, higher levels of pre-migration trauma were associated with higher post-traumatic stress disorder levels (β = 0.17; P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The rates of daily hardships and traumatic events are higher compared with those recorded for URMs living in asylum centres in Europe. The emotional, social and cognitive development of detained URMs is severely threatened in both the short and long term. This paper outlines some of the most detrimental effects of migration policies on URMs transiting through Libya.
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spelling pubmed-98853302023-02-08 The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya Derluyn, Ilse Orsini, Giacomo Verhaeghe, Floor Elhaj, Rihab Lietaert, Ine Pfeiffer, Elisa BJPsych Open Paper BACKGROUND: The high trauma load and prevalence of mental distress in unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) who resettle in Western (European) countries is well documented. However, the lack of studies investigating the potentially most vulnerable population, URMs who are currently on the move in transit countries such as Libya, is alarming. AIMS: To document the mental health of URMs detained in Libya and the possible associations with trauma, flight and daily hardships. METHOD: In total n = 99 (94.9% male; n = 93) URMs participated in this cross-sectional study conducted in four detention centres near the Libyan capital Tripoli. Data were collected via standardised questionnaires in an interview format and analysed using structured equation modelling. RESULTS: Participants reported high rates of trauma, especially within Libya itself. Reports of daily hardships in detention ranged between 40 and 95% for basic needs and between 27 and 80% for social needs. Higher social needs were associated with increased anxiety symptoms (β = 0.59; P = 0.028) and increased pre-migration (β = 0.10; P = 0.061) and peri-migration trauma (β = 0.16; P = 0.017) with symptoms of depression. Similarly, higher levels of pre-migration trauma were associated with higher post-traumatic stress disorder levels (β = 0.17; P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The rates of daily hardships and traumatic events are higher compared with those recorded for URMs living in asylum centres in Europe. The emotional, social and cognitive development of detained URMs is severely threatened in both the short and long term. This paper outlines some of the most detrimental effects of migration policies on URMs transiting through Libya. Cambridge University Press 2023-01-05 /pmc/articles/PMC9885330/ /pubmed/36601723 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.622 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
spellingShingle Paper
Derluyn, Ilse
Orsini, Giacomo
Verhaeghe, Floor
Elhaj, Rihab
Lietaert, Ine
Pfeiffer, Elisa
The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title_full The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title_fullStr The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title_full_unstemmed The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title_short The impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in Libya
title_sort impact of trauma and daily hardships on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors detained in libya
topic Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9885330/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36601723
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.622
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