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Dealing with difference: a scoping review of psychotherapeutic interventions with unaccompanied refugee minors

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Abstract

Unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) are a population at risk for developing mental problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and/or depression. Therapists working with URMs often have to overcome language and cultural barriers, while taking into account these young people’s specific needs. A growing literature describes a wide range of interventions designed to reduce psychopathologies and improve well-being. We summarized the different interventions used with URMs to get an overview of techniques used for reducing psychopathologies and difficulties of URMs and to give recommendations to help professionals. We searched eight databases for articles and books, imposing no restrictions on publication date or geographical region, and using English and French keywords. We included all studies (RCTs, case series, case study) that assessed an intervention with one or more URMs. Seventeen studies, reported in papers or book chapters, met the criteria for inclusion in our analysis. Only one RCT has been conducted with URMs but because of small sample size we cannot conclude on its efficacy. Other studies are case series or case studies and because of their study design, we cannot conclude whether one intervention is superior to others. Further research, with higher level of evidence, is needed to determine which types of intervention are most effective when working with URMs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mr. Quentin Rahms for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Psychologie, LIP/PC2S, EA 4145, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, 73000, Chambéry, France

    Gwladys Demazure & Sydney Gaultier

  2. CNRS, TIMC-IMAG, UMR 5525, Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Nicolas Pinsault

  3. Critical Thinking Federation FED 4270, Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Nicolas Pinsault

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  1. Gwladys Demazure
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  2. Sydney Gaultier
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  3. Nicolas Pinsault
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All authors have contributed equally in providing summaries of research studies, writing and approving the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gwladys Demazure.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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This article is part of the focused issue ‘Mental health issues in refugees’.

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Demazure, G., Gaultier, S. & Pinsault, N. Dealing with difference: a scoping review of psychotherapeutic interventions with unaccompanied refugee minors. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 27, 447–466 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-1083-y

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