Child, Adolescent and Family Refugee Mental Health: A Global Perspective

✍ Scribed by Suzan J. Song, Peter Ventevogel

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Springer
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 277
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

More than half of the 25.9 million refugees in the world are under the age of 18 and the mental health of these children and adolescents constitutes a growing global public health priority. Refugee children and their families are at increased risk to develop mental health problems, but they often face major challenges in accessing adequate treatment and mental health professionals frequently feel ill-equipped to assist this group.

Refugees are faced with a plethora of issues including the ambiguous loss of loved ones, psychological trauma related to past experiences of violence and atrocities, the complexities of daily life as a refugee, and the challenges to adapt to new systems of care and support. Refugees’ life circumstances all too often undermine their agency, asthey face discrimination, stigma, and social isolation or exclusion. Refugees are frequently disconnected from the usual family and community supports that they once had, which creates additional mental distress. As parents struggle with these changes, their children often find it even more difficult to adapt and connect with them. This all leads to increased prevalence of mental health conditions among refugees.

Humanitarian policies recommend family-centered interventions that are multi-sectoral,multi-disciplinary, and focus on optimizing resource utilization. Over the last decade, a considerable body of research has emerged around socio-ecological models of mental health, family and community approaches, and resilience and strengths-based theories, but these insights are insufficiently incorporated in the practice of mental health care for refugee children. Clinicians often struggle to grasp the common unique stressors that families face and are not familiar with working with families as units for intervention. Using culturally and contextually informed assessment methods and family-oriented management approaches not only help individual children or adolescents, but also their families.

This book aims to provide an overview of the latest theoretical insights from research on sociocultural aspects of mental health and connect these with clinical insights from practical mental health care provision. Using strengths-based, resiliency-oriented and family-centered approaches can enrich clinical practice in refugee mental health, but clinicians need to translate the emerging evidence into concrete steps and interventions. This requires additional skills for the assessment and management of mental health conditions in refugee children and families.

The chapters in this book are written by a diverse group of authors using global, multi-disciplinary approaches. The chapters provide examples from various contexts including refugees who are displaced to neighboring countries, refugees ‘on the move’, and refugees and asylum seekers in resettlement settings. This book is therefore a unique resource for clinicians, researchers and policy makers working on mental health issues of refugee children and adolescents around the world.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter ....Pages i-xviii
Front Matter ....Pages 1-1
Bridging the Humanitarian, Academic, and Clinical Fields Toward the Mental Health of Child and Adolescent Refugees (Peter Ventevogel, Suzan J. Song)....Pages 3-15
Children and Adolescents in Conflict and Displacement (Cyril Bennouna, Lindsay Stark, Michael G. Wessells)....Pages 17-36
Unpacking Context and Culture in Mental Health Pathways of Child and Adolescent Refugees (Ria Reis, Mathilde R. Crone, Lidewyde H. Berckmoes)....Pages 37-51
Supporting Mental Health in Young Refugees: A Resilience Perspective (Sofie Vindevogel, An Verelst)....Pages 53-65
Front Matter ....Pages 67-67
Principles of the Mental Health Assessment of Refugee Children and Adolescents (Suzan J. Song, Peter Ventevogel)....Pages 69-80
Conducting the Mental Health Assessment for Child and Adolescent Refugees (Suzan J. Song, Julia Oakley)....Pages 81-99
UNICEF Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Operational Guidelines (Leslie Snider, Zeinab Hijazi)....Pages 101-119
Front Matter ....Pages 121-121
Grief and Loss in Displaced and Refugee Families (Lynne Jones)....Pages 123-149
Intervening to Address the Impact of Stress and Trauma on Refugee Children and Adolescents Resettled in High-Income Countries (Cécile Rousseau, Melanie M. Gagnon)....Pages 151-163
Depression and Anxiety in Refugee Children (Peter Ventevogel, Joop T. V. M. de Jong)....Pages 165-178
Substance Use Among Refugee and Conflict-Affected Children and Adolescents (M. Claire Greene, Jeremy C. Kane)....Pages 179-194
Children and Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities in Humanitarian Settings (Vanessa Cavallera, Ramzi Nasir, Kerim Munir)....Pages 195-212
Severe Mental Disorders and Neuropsychiatric Conditions in Refugee Children and Adolescents (Nancy H. Liu, Neerja Chowdhary)....Pages 213-227
Front Matter ....Pages 229-229
What My Grandmother Would Have Taught Me: Enhancing Resilient Behavior in Unaccompanied Young Males in Denmark – A Pilot Project (Anne-Sophie Dybdal)....Pages 231-241
A Family-Centered Approach to Working with Refugee Children and Adolescents (Trudy Mooren, Julia Bala, Yoke Rabaia)....Pages 243-255
Engaging Refugee Families in a Family-Strengthening Intervention to Promote Child Mental Health and Family Functioning (Rochelle L. Frounfelker, Tej Mishra, Bhuwan Gautam, Jenna M. Berent, Abdirahman Abdi, Theresa S. Betancourt)....Pages 257-269
Correction to: Supporting Mental Health in Young Refugees: A Resilience Perspective (Sofie Vindevogel, An Verelst)....Pages C1-C1
Back Matter ....Pages 271-275

✦ Subjects

Medicine & Public Health; Psychiatry; Pediatrics; Clinical Psychology; General Practice / Family Medicine; Neurology