BMJ 1998;316:793-794 ( 14 March )

Editorials

Refugee children

May need a lot of psychiatric help 

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

War and persecution have resulted in large migrations, and current estimates suggest there are 23 million refugees in the world.1 About 120 000 of them are in Britain, mostly living in inner London, where they constitute significant minorities. At least 40% (50 000) are aged under 18 years, and they include increasing numbers of unaccompanied refugee children--nearly 500 in 1995. Despite their growing numbers, these children's mental health needs and service provision have received little attention.

Studies from the United States, mostly in refugee children from South East Asia but more recently those from former Yugoslavia, indicate that serious psychiatric disorder is present in 40-50%.2-4 Since refugee children will have been exposed to similar stressors wherever they find refuge, it is reasonable to take that figure as an estimate of prevalence in Britain. This is far higher than the estimates of psychiatric disorder among non-refugee children in London (about 25% in 10 year olds5 and 7% in . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Refugee families have psychological strengths
Sami Timimi
BMJ 1998 317: 475. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ehntholt, K. A., Smith, P. A., Yule, W. (2005). School-based Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy Group Intervention for Refugee Children who have Experienced War-related Trauma. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 10: 235-250 [Abstract]  
  • Fazel, M, Stein, A (2002). The mental health of refugee children. Arch. Dis. Child. 87: 366-370 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Davies, M., Webb, E. (2000). Promoting the Psychological Well-Being of Refugee Children. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 5: 541-554 [Abstract]  
  • Summerfield, D. (2000). Childhood, War, Refugeedom and 'Trauma': Three Core Questions for Mental Health Professionals. Transcultural Psychiatry 37: 417-433 [Abstract]  
  • O'shea, B., Hodes, M., Down, G., Bramley, J. (2000). A School-Based Mental Health Service for Refugee Children. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 5: 189-201 [Abstract]  
  • Timimi, S. (1998). Refugee families have psychological strengths. BMJ 317: 475-475 [Full text]  
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