Socio-economic status and psychosocial functioning of internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed at investigating the differences between internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade in relation to socio-economic status and psychosocial functioning.

METHODS

The investigation was conducted in Belgrade in 2000 and comprised 560 high school adolescents aged 18.1 ± 0.9 years (response rate 88%)--32 participants were internally displaced from Kosovo 1 year after the NATO campaign in Serbia (1999) and 528 were adolescents who lived in Belgrade more than 10 years. A specific questionnaire was used to obtain data on employment of family members, housing conditions, socialization, school success, smoking, alcohol consumption, and psychoactive substance use. Cornell Medical Index was applied as the screening test for neuroticism.

RESULTS

Internally displaced adolescents had poorer housing conditions (p < 0.001), poorer school social relations (p < 0.001), and their school achievement was inferior (p < 0.002). The compared groups did not significantly differ in the frequency of smoking, alcohol consumption, psychoactive substance use, and neuroticism.

CONCLUSION

Significant differences observed between internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade in some components of both socioeconomic status and psychosocial functioning suggest adverse effects of displacement.