The antecedents of well-being in first-generation migrant children: A systematic review

Interplay of sociocultural factors, health literacy and well-being among African asylum seekers and refugees in Asia: A systematic review

Background

There are many African asylum seekers and refugees (AAR) in Asia. However, little research has been conducted on their well-being within the sociocultural milieu. This systematic review explores the characteristics of AAR's psychological and mental well-being and how their acculturation practices, social networks and support (i.e. social capital), health-related knowledge and skills (i.e., health literacy) influence their psychological and mental well-being.

Methods

The study included relevant peer-reviewed articles from any Asian country/region, published in English. No date restriction was applied. Five databases (i.e. Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were searched for studies conducted about AAR from any of the 54 African countries and residing in any of the 51 Asian countries. Following a predefined inclusion criteria and quality assessment, nine articles were included in this study. Narrative synthesis approach was used to analyse the articles.

Results

It was found that AARs face significant challenges that culminate in poor psychological and mental well-being, including conditions such as depression and discontent with their lives. Notwithstanding, being in a safe place made some of them optimistic about their future. However, many AARs had difficulties adjusting to the host culture. They had limited awareness of the prevailing health system and services and faced restrictions on their rights to social services, partly because of difficulty obtaining appropriate information. The few social bonds and bridges they possessed enabled them to develop a sense of belonging and protected them from psychological distress. However, problematic social relationships increased the chances of poor health-related outcomes.

Conclusion

The psychological and mental well-being of AAR in Asia is concerning. Hence, more research on how critical health determinants (i.e. social capital, health literacy and acculturation processes from this study) directly and interactively influence their well-being across age cohorts. Given their roles in promoting AAR's well-being, appropriate interventions to improve those critical health determinants are also sorely needed.

Life Satisfaction among Unaccompanied Refugee Minors: Associations with Traumatic Events and Daily Hassles

While there is a growing literature about mental health problems among unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee minors (URMs), far less is known about their wellbeing. Such information is important as a subjective sense of wellbeing is associated with a variety of positive health and psychosocial outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine life satisfaction and the association with traumatic events, daily hassles, and asylum status among URMs in Norway. We collected self-report questionnaire data from URMs living in Norway (n = 173, 90.80% male, 71.1% from Afghanistan). Mean age was 16.62 (SD = 1.74) years, and they reported clinically relevant post-traumatic stress symptoms. We explored variation in life satisfaction, URM-specific daily hassles and traumatic events. We also investigated a mediation model, in which we assumed that daily hassles mediated the association between traumatic events and life satisfaction. The participants reported low life satisfaction (M = 4.28, SD = 2.90, 0-10 scale). A negative outcome of the asylum process and URM-specific daily hassles were associated with reduced life satisfaction. URM-specific daily hassles accounted for the relation between traumatic events and life satisfaction. The youth had been exposed to several traumatic events yet the effect of these on life satisfaction appeared indirect, via an increase in URM-specific daily hassles. Reducing the number of, or help URM cope with, URM-specific daily hassles may increase their life satisfaction.

The mediating role of childhood maltreatment in the association between residence migration and adolescent depression

BACKGROUND

It is well established that residence migration can negatively affect the mental health of adolescents. However, the related factors that mediate the association between residence migration and depression are still uncertain.

METHODS

The participants were 16,037 adolescents in junior middle schools. A self-administered questionnaire was used for the survey. In addition to collecting general demographic characteristics of the participants, including age, gender, local residence status, only child status, parental marriage status and parent-child relationship, the questionnaire also contained the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software.

RESULTS

A total of 14,059 valid questionnaires were collected, resulting in 12,122 local adolescents, defined as being born and raised locally, and 1937 migrant adolescents, defined as being transferred from other regions. Meanwhile, 53.3 % of local adolescents and 58.2 % of migrant adolescents reported depressive symptoms. This result indicated that residence migration might contribute to depression symptoms(OR = 1.136, 95%CI: 1.013-1.273, p < 0.05). Childhood maltreatment and parental divorce are risk factors for depression in migrant adolescents. For all adolescents, resilience and a good parent-child relationship may reduce the risk of depression. Childhood maltreatment completely mediates residence migration-related depression(95 % bootstrap CI = 0.146, 0.323).

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that residence migration could contribute to adolescent depression, and childhood maltreatment may largely mediate this process, providing new insight into the relationship between adolescent depressive symptoms and residence migration. Reducing childhood maltreatment may effectively improve the depressive symptoms of migrant adolescents.

Subjective Well-Being Among Unaccompanied Refugee Youth: Longitudinal Associations With Discrimination and Ethnic Identity Crisis

Unaccompanied refugee youth (URY), who as children fled their countries to seek asylum in a foreign country without the company of an adult legal caretaker are described as being in a vulnerable situation. Many of them struggle with mental reactions to traumatic events experienced pre-migration, and to the daily hassles they face after being granted asylum and residence. Despite continuous high levels of mental health problems URY demonstrate remarkable agency and social mobility in the years after being granted asylum in their destination countries. A sense of subjective well-being (SWB) may enable resilient outcomes in people exposed to past or ongoing adversities. To fill the gap in the research literature about positive psychological outcomes among URY, the overall aim of this study was to explore the longitudinal associations between SWB and two taxing acculturation hassles: perceived discrimination and ethnic identity crisis. Three annual waves of self-report questionnaire data were collected from a population-based sample of URY; n = 581, M_age = 20.01(SD = 2.40), M_{length of stay} = 4.63 (SD = 4.40), 82 % male, mainly from Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, and Sri Lanka. The longitudinal associations between SWB, perceived discrimination and ethnic identity crisis across time were analyzed using auto-regressive cross-lagged modeling. The results revealed that perceived discrimination, but not ethnic identity crisis, negatively predicted subsequent levels of SWB. More importantly, high levels of SWB at one timepoint predicted decreases in both discrimination and ethnic identity crisis at subsequent timepoints. Further, increases in SWB from one timepoint to the next was associated with significant co-occurring decreases in both discrimination and ethnic identity crisis, and vice versa. Despite the negative effect of perceived discrimination on SWB, promoting SWB in URY can protect them from future hazards of acculturation hassles in complex ways. We underscore the need for more research on SWB among URY and other refugee youth. We further discuss the potential of SWB to foster resilient outcomes in young refugees and suggest that interventions to strengthen SWB among them should consider their transnational and multicultural realities and experiences.