Bidragande faktorer till psykisk ohälsa hos ensamkommande barn : En litteraturstudie

Sammanfattning

Background: Refugees have existed throughout human history, but in recent times it has become morecommon for children without adult company to arrive at Europe's borders. Most children who have arrived in Sweden in recent years have a background in Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea. In 2015 a record number came to Sweden when 35,369 unaccompanied children arrived. During the influx of refugees between 2015 and 2016, an estimated 170,000 children and young people came to Europe's borders and applied for asylum. Aim: Describe contributing factors to mental health problems among unaccompanied refugee children. Method: The purpose of the study is answered with a literature review with a qualitative approach based on 11 scientific articles taken from PubMed and CINAHL. Results: Four themes were identified: Traumatic experiences, Migration process, Agedetermination and Gender. The predominant factors that contributed to mental health problems among the children turned out to be traumatic experiences before and during the migration as well as the protracted migration process. Conclusion: The results of this literature study showed that unaccompanied refugee children have experienced various traumatic events before and during the migration process and face adversity and difficulties in the new country.