A file study of refugee children referred to specialized mental health care: from an individual diagnostic to an ecological perspective

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry volume 26, pages1331–1341(2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The past years have been characterized by a large refugee crisis across the globe. The exposure to preflight, flight, and resettlement stressors puts refugee children and their families at risk of developing emotional and behavioral disorders. A unique Western-based approach of mental health problems seems to be insufficient to address the complexity of interactions between individual vulnerabilities and more ecological surrounding systems. We looked into (1) the reasons for referral; and (2) the process diagnostic outcomes after ethnopsychiatric and psychological assessment. We conducted a thematic content analysis on 93 files of refugee children. The findings suggest that mental health care professionals need to hold into account the multiplicity and intertwining of ongoing challenges to the well-being of refugee children. The integration of a Western-based psychiatric assessment with a more ecologically based view can lead to a more culturally sensitive approach in refugee children and their families. This way, both under- and overdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders could be avoided to further optimalise mental health care in this population.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Solentra vzw, Child and Adolescent Department (PAika), Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090, Jette, Belgium

    Julia Villanueva O’Driscoll, Geertrui Serneels & Lindita Imeraj

  2. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Elsene, Belgium

    Julia Villanueva O’Driscoll

  3. Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090, Jette, Belgium

    Lindita Imeraj

Authors
  1. Julia Villanueva O’Driscoll
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  2. Geertrui Serneels
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  3. Lindita Imeraj
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julia Villanueva O’Driscoll.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

European Refugee Fund.

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Villanueva O’Driscoll, J., Serneels, G. & Imeraj, L. A file study of refugee children referred to specialized mental health care: from an individual diagnostic to an ecological perspective. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 26, 1331–1341 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-0981-3

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Keywords

  • Refugees
  • Refugee children
  • Ecological framework
  • Culturally sensitive approach
  • File study
  • Mental health care