Psychological difficulties among children and adolescents with ethnic Danish, immigrant or refugee background

Authors

  • Ingrid Leth University of Copenhagen, Department of Psychology
  • Janni Niclasen Department of Psychology University of Copenhagen
  • Else Ryding OASIS Rehabilitation- and treatment Centre for traumatized refugees, Denmark
  • Yasmine Baroud Danish Refugee Council
  • Barbara Hoff Esbjørn Department of Psychology University of Copenhagen Denmark

Keywords:

mental health, refugee children, immigrant children, school children.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated and compared the prevalence of psychological difficulties among Danish, immigrant, and refugee children.

Methods: We enrolled 332 children between the ages of 8 and 18 years (148 Danish children, 81 immigrant children, and 67 children with refugee backgrounds), all from low-income areas of residence. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Symptoms Checklist, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale were applied.

Results: We found significant differences among the groups, with Danish children reporting lower levels of conduct problems than both immigrant children (P < .01) and refugee children (P < .05). Refugee children also reported more peer problems (P < .05), more symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (P < .01), and more separation anxiety symptoms (P < .05) than the Danish children. No significant differences with regard to age or gender were found among the groups.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that, although immigrant children had higher levels of conduct problems than ethnic Danish children, they did not suffer from higher levels of internalizing psychological difficulties. However, refugee children were at higher risk for psychological difficulties associated with both externalizing and internalizing.

Author Biographies

Ingrid Leth, University of Copenhagen, Department of Psychology

Associate professor , emeritus

Janni Niclasen, Department of Psychology University of Copenhagen

PhD, Post Doc

Else Ryding, OASIS Rehabilitation- and treatment Centre for traumatized refugees, Denmark

Psychologist, specialist in psycho Traumatology and Child Psychology

Yasmine Baroud, Danish Refugee Council

Psychologist MSc

Barbara Hoff Esbjørn, Department of Psychology University of Copenhagen Denmark

Associate professor

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Published

2014-03-25

How to Cite

Leth, I., Niclasen, J., Ryding, E., Baroud, Y., & Esbjørn, B. H. (2014). Psychological difficulties among children and adolescents with ethnic Danish, immigrant or refugee background. Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, 2(1), 29–36. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/sjcapp/article/view/15814

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Articles

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