Child Indicators Research
Volume 12, Issue 3, 2019, Pages 943-962

Perspectives of Refugee Children Resettling in Australia on Indicators of Their Wellbeing (Article)

Lawrence J.A.* , Kaplan I. , Collard A.H.
  • a Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry Building, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
  • b Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, 4 Gardiner Street, Brunswick, VIC 3056, Australia
  • c Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, 4 Gardiner Street, Brunswick, VIC 3056, Australia

Abstract

Indicators of the well-being of refugee children are under explored, especially from children’s perspectives. We used a child-friendly computer-assisted interview (CAI) to investigate patterns in refugee children’s positive and negative indicators of well-being as they resettled in Australia. Thirty-seven children aged 7 to 13 years were clients of a specialized refugee trauma service. Analyzes revealed 3 cluster subgroups with distinctive patterns of indicators of high, moderate, low levels of well-being indicators. One subgroup with a high level of well-being differed from low and moderate level subgroups in consistently expressing indicators of faring well with little worrying, and the absence of intrusive worries. A subgroup with a low level of well-being expressed indicators of not faring well, worrying about family members, and having worries that intruded in daily functions. A subgroup with a moderate level of well-being differed from the low cluster in having less severe and less intrusive worries. Subgroups expressed common positive indicators of what they needed to help them feel better, their reliance on family members for help, and the forms of close interactions and talk they received as help from family members. Implications include the value of enabling refugee children to express their perspectives, and the importance of including these perspectives as a basis for tailoring intervention strategies for children and their families and for including children’s perspectives in policy and service decisions and strategies. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Refugee children Computer-assisted interviews Children’s worries Pattern analysis Children’s perspectives Intervention strategies Well-being

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85065556322&doi=10.1007%2fs12187-018-9568-x&partnerID=40&md5=17973f4f8b4e7f66c050e15a84fd9916

DOI: 10.1007/s12187-018-9568-x
ISSN: 1874897X
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English