Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
2019

Mental Health Needs of Refugee Children in Specialized Early Education and Care Programs in Germany (Article)

Buchmüller T.* , Lembcke H. , Ialuna F. , Busch J. , Leyendecker B.
  • a Center for Child and Family Research, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 101, Bochum, 44801, Germany
  • b Center for Child and Family Research, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 101, Bochum, 44801, Germany
  • c Center for Child and Family Research, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 101, Bochum, 44801, Germany
  • d Center for Child and Family Research, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 101, Bochum, 44801, Germany
  • e Center for Child and Family Research, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 101, Bochum, 44801, Germany

Abstract

Refugee children are at risk to develop mental health problems, which have rarely been investigated in educational contexts. We conducted three studies in childcare programs for refugees in Germany. Children’s behavior was assessed by educators on site (n = 84) and online (n = 50) using a two-stage-cluster sampling and on site (n = 107) using complete samples. In Study 1 and 2, children showed elevated attention problems ranging from medium to large effect sizes, r = 0.2 and r = 0.5, respectively, and aggressive behavior problems ranging from small to large effect sizes, r = 0.1 and r = 0.5, respectively, when compared to norm data. In Study 3, children showed elevated peer-problems, r = 0.5. Future research needs to investigate whether these problems are a consequence of adapting to a novel context or a precursor of a psychopathology caused by risk factors in the context of forced displacement. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

C-TRF Early education and care SDQ Refugee children Mental health

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85065977565&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-019-00896-4&partnerID=40&md5=9c76ee23ae78118bc5293a6d5ad0c867
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-019-00896-4
ISSN: 15571912
Original Language: English