Zwi Karen, Rungan Santuri, Woolfenden Susan, Woodland Lisa, Palasanthiran Pamela, Williams Katrina
School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
J Paediatr Child Health. 2017 Sep;53(9):841-849. doi: 10.1111/jpc.13551. Epub 2017 May 29.
This study aimed to describe refugee children, their families and settlement characteristics, and how their development and social-emotional well-being change over time.
We conducted a longitudinal study of 61 refugee children (6 months to 15 years) in an Australian setting, over 2009-2013 and measured child, family and settlement factors as well as physical health, development and social-emotional well-being (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ).
Questionnaires were completed with parents of 54 (89%) children at year 2 and 52 (100%) at year 3. Forty percent of parents had low levels of education, 30% of fathers were absent on arrival, 13% of children were born in refugee camps and 11% of parents self-disclosed previous trauma. Over time, there was increased parental employment (P = 0.001), improved English proficiency for partners (P = 0.02) and reduced stressful life events in the last 12 months (P = 0.003). At years 2 and 3, parents were studying English (96%; 76%), accessing government financial support (96%; 100%) and primary health care (98%; 87%), and feeling supported by their own (78%; 73%) or the general (69%; 63%) community. Fifteen percent of children had a chronic disease, and 13% were obese and overweight. In pre-school children, 27% had mild developmental problems in year 2; all were normal by year 3. Abnormal SDQ total difficulties scores reduced over time from 13 to 6% of children but this did not reach significance.
Most refugee children have developmental and well-being outcomes within the normal range by year 3. However, a minority of children have persistently poor social-emotional outcomes.
本研究旨在描述难民儿童、其家庭及定居特征，以及他们的发育和社会情感幸福感如何随时间变化。
2009年至2013年期间，我们在澳大利亚对61名难民儿童（6个月至15岁）进行了一项纵向研究，测量了儿童、家庭和定居因素以及身体健康、发育和社会情感幸福感（长处与困难问卷，SDQ）。
在第2年，54名（89%）儿童的父母完成了问卷调查；在第3年，52名（100%）儿童的父母完成了问卷调查。40%的父母教育程度低，30%的父亲在抵达时不在身边，13%的儿童出生在难民营，11%的父母自我披露曾有过创伤经历。随着时间的推移，父母的就业率有所提高（P = 0.001），伴侣的英语水平有所提高（P = 0.02），过去12个月内压力性生活事件有所减少（P = 0.003）。在第2年和第3年，父母在学习英语（96%；76%）、获得政府财政支持（96%；100%）和初级卫生保健（98%；87%），并感到得到自己所在社区（78%；73%）或一般社区（69%；63%）的支持。15%的儿童患有慢性病，13%的儿童肥胖或超重。在学龄前儿童中，27%在第2年有轻度发育问题；到第3年时均恢复正常。SDQ总困难得分异常的儿童比例随时间从13%降至6%，但未达到显著水平。
到第3年时，大多数难民儿童的发育和幸福感结果处于正常范围内。然而，少数儿童的社会情感结果持续较差。
