Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany.
PLoS One. 2021 Feb 1;16(2):e0246069. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246069. eCollection 2021.
Asylum-seeking children and adolescents (ASCs) resettled to western countries show elevated levels of psychological distress. While research on the mental health of ASCs is increasing, less is known about their day-to-day living experiences such as their daily mood, sleep patterns, and post-migration factors. Moreover, no examination in situ, using smartphone-assisted ecological momentary assessment (EMA), has been conducted up to now among ASCs. Furthermore, we do not know if screening measures succeed in reflecting the daily mood of ASCs experienced in everyday life.
We undertook a smartphone-assisted EMA study over a two-week period with 3 measurements a day. Participants were N = 40 ASCs from 10 different countries who had resettled to Germany. They completed standardized questionnaires screening for history of trauma and clinical symptoms (post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and anxiety) that were carried out in interview-like settings, and they participated in the subsequent EMA where they rated mood, sleep parameters, and post-migration factors on a daily basis. Multilevel models of clinical symptoms, daily mood, and sleep parameters were computed based on a total of 680 measurements.
The multiply traumatized and highly distressed participants reported different levels of discrimination, and various social activities and contacts in the EMA. The overall compliance rate was shown to be 40.5%. Higher PTSS and anxiety scores were associated with lower levels of daily mood and poorer outcomes of some sleep parameters. Depression scores were not associated with any of the variables assessed in the EMA.
Smartphone-assisted EMA among ASCs resettled to Germany proved to be implementable despite a rather low compliance rate. Not only do ASCs show high symptom levels, they are also affected by these symptoms in their daily lives. The results emphasize the need for concise screenings and psychological treatment for this high-risk population. Limitations include the convenient nature of the sample and the lack of a comparison group.
寻求庇护的儿童和青少年（ASCs）在西方国家重新安置后表现出更高水平的心理困扰。尽管有关 ASCs 心理健康的研究在不断增加，但对他们的日常生活体验（如日常情绪、睡眠模式和移民后因素）的了解却较少。此外，迄今为止，还没有使用智能手机辅助的生态瞬时评估（EMA）在当地对 ASCs 进行检查。此外，我们不知道筛查措施是否成功地反映了日常生活中 ASC 所经历的日常情绪。
我们进行了为期两周的智能手机辅助 EMA 研究，每天进行 3 次测量。参与者是来自 10 个不同国家的 N = 40 名 ASC，他们已在德国重新安置。他们完成了标准化问卷筛查，以筛查创伤史和临床症状（创伤后应激症状、抑郁和焦虑），这些问卷是在类似访谈的环境中进行的，然后他们参加了随后的 EMA，每天对情绪、睡眠参数和移民后因素进行评分。基于总共 680 次测量，计算了临床症状、日常情绪和睡眠参数的多级模型。
遭受多重创伤和高度困扰的参与者在 EMA 中报告了不同程度的歧视和各种社会活动和联系。总体合规率为 40.5%。较高的 PTS 评分和焦虑评分与日常情绪水平较低和某些睡眠参数较差有关。抑郁评分与 EMA 评估的任何变量均无关。
尽管合规率较低，但在德国重新安置的 ASC 进行的智能手机辅助 EMA 被证明是可行的。 ASCs 不仅表现出较高的症状水平，而且还受到日常生活中这些症状的影响。结果强调了为这一高风险人群进行简洁筛查和心理治疗的必要性。限制包括样本的便利性和缺乏对照组。
