Solberg Ø, Nissen A, Vaez M, Cauley P, Eriksson AK, Saboonchi F. Children at risk: A nation-wide, cross-sectional study examining post-traumatic stress symptoms in refugee minors from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan resettled in Sweden between 2014 and 2018.
Confl Health 2020;
14:67. [PMID:
33024451 PMCID:
PMC7531165 DOI:
10.1186/s13031-020-00311-y]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
The objective of the present study was to assess nation-wide, representative prevalence estimates for symptom-defined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within populations of refugee minors from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq resettled in Sweden.
Methods
A nation-wide, cross-sectional, questionnaire study with a stratified sample of refugee minors, aged 16–18 years, from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, resettled in Sweden between 2014 and 2018 (N = 5071) was conducted. The response rate was 22.3%, leaving n = 1129 refugee minors (boys 53.1% / girls 46.9%) in the final sample. Symptom-defined prevalences of PTSD were measured using CRIES-8 with ≥17 as cut-off. Data were analyzed using frequency distributions, and strata-specific PTSD prevalences with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), were estimated. The association between migratory status on arrival (unaccompanied vs. accompanied) and PTSD was estimated using crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) utilizing logistic regression analyses with 95% CIs.
Results
Overall, the weighted PTSD prevalence was 42% (95% CI 38.9–45.1), with minors from Afghanistan presenting the highest prevalence (56.9, 95% CI 51.5–62.2), compared to minors from Iraq (36.8, 95% CI 28.9–45.4) and Syria (33.4, 95% CI 29.4–37.6). Unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan had higher odds of PTSD compared to accompanied minors from Afghanistan (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.08–3.40). Gender differences were non-significant.
Conclusions
High prevalences of symptom-defined PTSD among refugee minors in general and in unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan in particular, were revealed. Findings calls for continued efforts to support this especially vulnerable group.
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