Escaping the inescapable: Risk of mental health disorder, somatic symptoms and resilience in Palestinian refugee children

2021 ◽  
pp. 136346152098707
Author(s):  
Naomi Wilson ◽  
Fiona Turner-Halliday ◽  
Helen Minnis

Exposure to war, conflict and forced migration puts children at risk of mental health problems. The present study examined the levels of psychological distress and resilience factors among 106 Palestinian refugee children aged 11 to 17 in the West Bank. In a cross-sectional, mixed method design along with qualitative interviews, three questionnaires were administered: the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire-15, assessed the risk of mental health disorders and psychosomatic complaints, and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure assessed the availability of resilience-enhancing factors. Palestinian refugee children were found to be at greater risk for mental disorders and psychosomatic complaints than were children living in non-conflict affected settings. In addition, resilience-enhancing resources were significantly reduced and were negatively correlated with both symptom outcomes. Risk factors identified included poverty, violence and marginalisation. Key protective factors were youth education, supportive relationships and social participation. Our findings support interventions that address the identified protective factors, which may promote the mental health of this vulnerable population.

Author(s):  
Edgar Höhne ◽  
Anna Swantje van der Meer ◽  
Inge Kamp-Becker ◽  
Hanna Christiansen

Abstract In recent years, there has been a rising interest in the mental health of unaccompanied minor refugees (UMR), who are a high-risk group for mental disorders. Especially the investigation of predictive factors of the mental health of young refugees has received increasing attention. However, there has been no review on this current issue for the specific group of UMR so far. We aimed to summarize and evaluate the existing findings of specific risk and protective factors to identify the most verified influences on the mental health of UMR. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature search. Study designs were limited to quantitative cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Eight databases were searched in four different languages and article reference lists of relevant papers were screened. 27 studies were included (N = 4753). Qualitative synthesis revealed the number of stressful life events to be the most evaluated and verified risk factor for mental health of UMR. A stable environment and social support, on the other hand, can protect UMR from developing poor mental health. Besides that, several other influencing factors could be pointed out, such as type of accommodation, family contact, gender and cultural competences. Because of the large heterogeneity of outcome measures, quantitative synthesis was not possible. This review helps to improve our understanding of determinants of UMRs mental health and thus to provide more targeted treatment. Furthermore, it provides information on how to prevent the development of mental health problems by specifying factors that can be modified by different health and immigration sectors in advance. Further research is needed focusing on the interaction between the various predictive factors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Hyland ◽  
Frédérique Vallières ◽  
Orla McBride ◽  
Jamie Murphy ◽  
Mark Shevlin ◽  
...  

Objective: Emerging evidence indicates that the mental health consequences of COVID-19 may not be as deleterious as initially feared. We analyzed the levels of symptom expression and rates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and COVID-19 related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (C19-PTSD) in the adult population of Ireland at different points during the first year of the pandemic.Methods: Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 1041 adults across five waves from March/April 2020 to March/April 2021. New participants were recruited at follow-up waves to maintain nationally representative cross-sectional estimates. Cross-sectional estimates of each and any disorder were calculated, and longitudinal changes in means and prevalence estimates of MDD, GAD, and C19-PTSD were assessed using structural equation modelling.Results: Cross-sectional estimates of meeting criteria for MDD, GAD, or C19-PTSD were 34.7% in March/April 2020 (Wave 1) and 33.7% in March/April 2021 (Wave 5). Longitudinal analyses revealed no significant change in symptoms of MDD, a significant decrease in GAD symptoms, and a significant increase in C19-PTSD symptoms. There were significant decreases in prevalence estimates of MDD (by 4.9%) and GAD (by 6.3%), and no significant change in C19-PTSD. Overall, 4.7% fewer people met criteria for any disorder at Wave 5 than at Wave 1. Conclusion: There was no evidence of an increase in mental health problems in the adult population during the first year of the pandemic in Ireland. Analyses of longitudinal data indicated a small but significant decrease in the proportion of people suffering from a mental health disorder.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 210362
Author(s):  
Gustaf Gredebäck ◽  
Sara Haas ◽  
Jonathan Hall ◽  
Seth Pollak ◽  
Dogukan Cansin Karakus ◽  
...  

More than 5.6 million people have fled Syria since 2011, about half of them children. These children grow up with parents that often suffer from war-related mental health problems. In this study, we assess emotional processing abilities of 6–18 year-old children growing up in families that have fled from Syria and reside in Turkish communities (100 families, 394 individuals). We demonstrate that mothers', but not fathers’, post-traumatic stress (PTS) impacts children's emotional processing abilities. A 4% reduction of mothers' PTS was equivalent to 1 year of development in children, even when controlling for parents’ traumatic experiences. Making a small investment in increased mental health of refugee mothers might have a positive impact on the lives of their children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-122
Author(s):  
Prachi Kothari ◽  
Ashok K Srivastava ◽  
Neha Sharma

Background: Mental health disorder is a major cause of impairment in youth aged between 9 to 17 years as one in every fifth youth has a mental disorder. In India, the prevalence of mental problems among adolescents is 14.3%. Objective: To find out the proportion of social and behavioural problems among adolescents and their association with the sociodemographic factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 150 school going adolescents (11-17years). All the study participants were recruited through non-probability sampling technique. Data was collected through Google Forms. For assessing the social and behavioural problems, Strength and Difficulty questionnaire (SDQ) was used. Result:  There were 76 (50.7%) males and 74 (49.3%) females in this study. 16% of school going children were categorized as “abnormal”, 12% as borderline and 72.% as normal for social and behavioural problems based on scores of SDQ. The findings have implications that gender do play a role in affecting mental health status.Conclusions: Mental health problems are one of the most common and highly prevalent disorders among adolescents in India. For addressing psycho-social problems among adolescents there is a dire need of counsellors. Training of parents as well as teachers should be conducted for timely intervention.


Crisis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Teismann ◽  
Laura Paashaus ◽  
Paula Siegmann ◽  
Peter Nyhuis ◽  
Marcus Wolter ◽  
...  

Abstract. Background: Suicide ideation is a prerequisite for suicide attempts. However, the majority of ideators will never act on their thoughts. It is therefore crucial to understand factors that differentiate those who consider suicide from those who make suicide attempts. Aim: Our aim was to investigate the role of protective factors in differentiating non-ideators, suicide ideators, and suicide attempters. Method: Inpatients without suicide ideation ( n = 32) were compared with inpatients with current suicide ideation ( n = 37) and with inpatients with current suicide ideation and a lifetime history of suicide attempts ( n = 26) regarding positive mental health, self-esteem, trust in higher guidance, social support, and reasons for living. Results: Non-ideators reported more positive mental health, social support, reasons for living, and self-esteem than suicide ideators and suicide attempters did. No group differences were found regarding trust in higher guidance. Suicide ideators and suicide attempters did not differ regarding any of the study variables. Limitations: Results stem from a cross-sectional study of suicide attempts; thus, neither directionality nor generalizability to fatal suicide attempts can be determined. Conclusion: Various protective factors are best characterized to distinguish ideators from nonsuicidal inpatients. However, the same variables seem to offer no information about the difference between ideators and attempters.


Author(s):  
Kennedy Amone-P'Olak ◽  
Boniface Kealeboga Ramotuana

In Africa, the structure of the family is changing rapidly. The effects of this change on mental health remain unknown. This study investigated the extent to which different family types (intact, single-mother, and multiple) predict mental health problems in young adults in Botswana (N = 264, mean age = 21.31, SD = 2.40). In a cross-sectional design, the study sampled students registered at various faculties at the University of Botswana. The revised symptoms checklist (SCL-90-R) was used to assess symptoms of mental health problems (depression, anxiety and hostility). Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) of mental health problems for mother-only and multiple family types relative to the intact family type. Compared to the intact family type, single-mother (OR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.21, 4.51) and multiple family types (OR = 1.56; CI: 0.88, 2.78) were associated with an increased risk of depression. For anxiety, the ORs were 2.27 (CI: 1.18, 4.38) and 1.10 (CI: 0.56, 1.82) for single-mother and multiple family types respectively. For hostility, the ORs were 2.60 (CI: 1.34, 5.04), and 0.79 (CI: 0.44, 1.42) for single-mother and multiple family types, respectively. Family types predict mental health problems in young adults and therefore the interventions to mitigate the effects should consider family backgrounds and the ramifications of family types for treatment and care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Rajni Suri ◽  
Anshu Suri ◽  
Neelam Kumari ◽  
Amool R. Singh ◽  
Manisha Kiran

The role of women is very crucial in our society. She cares for her parents, partner, children and other relatives. She performs all types of duties in family and also in the society without any expectations. Because of playing many roles, women often face many challenges in their life including both physical and mental. Mental health problems affect women and men equally, but some problems are more common among women including both physical and mental health problems. Aim of the study - The present study is aimed to describe and compare the clinical and socio-demographic correlates of female mentally ill patients. Methods and Materials: The study includes 180 female mentally ill patients based on cross sectional design and the sample for the study was drawn purposively. A semi structured socio-demographic data sheet was prepared to collect relevant information as per the need of the study. Result: The present study reveals that the socio-demographic factors contribute a vital role in mental illness. Findings also showed that majority of patients had mental problems in the age range of 20-30 have high rate. Illiterate and primary level of education and daily wage working women as well as low and middle socio-economic status women are more prone to have mental illness. Other factors like marital status, type of family and religion etc also important factors for mental illness. Keywords: Socio demographic profile, female, psychiatric patient


Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Kotera ◽  
Jaroslava Dosedlova ◽  
Denise Andrzejewski ◽  
Greta Kaluzeviciute ◽  
Makoto Sakai

AbstractPsychological stress has become a major concern, potentially leading to diverse health problems including psychopathology such as depression and anxiety. Transactional Model of Stress and Coping is an established model, conceptualizing stressful experiences via person–environment relationship. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the pathway from stress to depression/anxiety, with a focus on self-criticism (inadequate-self and hated-self) and self-reassurance (reassured-self) in Czech students who suffered from high prevalence of mental health problems. Convenience sample of 119 undergraduates completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and the Forms of the Self-Criticizing/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale. Correlation and path analyses were conducted. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines were used to aid an accurate and complete report of the study. Depression, anxiety, and stress were positively associated with inadequate-self and hated-self while negatively associated with reassured-self. Both inadequate-self and hated-self partially mediated the stress–depression and stress–anxiety relationships, whereas reassured-self only partially mediated the stress–depression relationship. Inadequate-self had greater impact on the stress–depression/anxiety pathways than hated-self and reassured-self. Findings indicate that clinical treatment may benefit from targeting the feelings of inadequacy to prevent stress progressing to psychopathology. This is particularly relevant as stress levels are rising globally. Our findings offer developments to the Transactional Model, and help practitioners and educators identify solutions to protect mental health of Czech university students.


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