Montgomery Edith, Foldspang Anders
Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eur J Public Health. 2005 Jun;15(3):233-7. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/cki059. Epub 2005 May 27.
The aim of this study was to compare profiles of present mental health and previous exposure to violence among refugee children from the Middle East, whose asylum seeking families either did or did not obtain permission to stay in Denmark.
Shortly after arrival in Denmark, the parents of 311 Middle-Eastern children answered a structured interview on their children's exposure to organized violence and their mental health. The families were followed-up as concerns receipt of a residence permit.
At arrival in Denmark, the children's patterns of previous exposure to violence and present mental health was generally similar irrespective of the family getting a residence permit, as was the case for 90 families (60.4%) with 190 children (61.1%). In both groups an overwhelming majority, eight to nine out of 10 children, had been exposed to conditions of war and had stayed in a refugee camp, and seven out of 10 had witnessed violence. Half of the children had a tortured parent. Considerably more children of families who did not get a residence permit had lost a parent (30.6% versus 13.7%; P<0.001). In both groups about two-thirds suffered from anxiety and about 30% from sleep problems, and children whose families did not later on get a residence permit more often appeared sad or miserable (43.8% versus 27.9%; P<0.005).
The asylum-granting decision process seems to have divided the children into two groups with only superficial disparity as concerns their previous exposure to violence and their present mental health. There seems to be good reason to systematically integrate evidence on the children of refugee families in the treatment of applications for permission to stay.
本研究旨在比较中东难民儿童的当前心理健康状况以及此前遭受暴力的情况，这些难民儿童的寻求庇护家庭有的获得了留在丹麦的许可，有的则未获得。
311名中东儿童的父母在抵达丹麦后不久，就其子女遭受有组织暴力的情况以及心理健康状况接受了结构化访谈。这些家庭随后就居留许可的获批情况接受了随访。
抵达丹麦时，无论家庭是否获得居留许可，儿童此前遭受暴力的模式和当前的心理健康状况总体上相似，90个家庭（60.4%）中的190名儿童（61.1%）就是如此。在两组中，绝大多数儿童（十分之八到九）都经历过战争，曾待在难民营，十分之七的儿童目睹过暴力。一半的儿童有遭受过折磨的父母。未获得居留许可家庭的儿童中，失去父母的比例要高得多（30.6%对13.7%；P<0.001）。两组中约三分之二的儿童患有焦虑症，约30%的儿童有睡眠问题，其家庭后来未获得居留许可的儿童更常表现出悲伤或痛苦（43.8%对27.9%；P<0.005）。
给予庇护的决策过程似乎将儿童分成了两组，就他们此前遭受暴力的情况和当前的心理健康状况而言，两组之间只有表面上的差异。在处理居留许可申请时，似乎有充分的理由系统地纳入有关难民家庭儿童的证据。
