Second Department of Psychiatry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon University Hospital, Athens.
Psychiatriki. 2022 Sep 19;33(3):219-227. doi: 10.22365/jpsych.2022.074. Epub 2022 Apr 27.
The closure of the Balkan migration route in 2016, had implications for unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs), given that the vast majority, who perceived Greece as "stopover" for their desired final destination, were forced to remain in the country for an indeterminate period of time. This created for URMs a challenging situation of living "in limbo" uncertain about their future awaiting for a long time the outcome of their asylum application. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the mental health of URMs, who arrived in Greece in 2016. The sample comprised 90 URMs (76 boys), aged 13-17 years, consisting of 46 Syrians and 44 originating from other countries. Participants completed socio-demographic information and a range of clinical measures, including Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES), Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS), Children's Post-Traumatic Cognitions Inventory (cPTCI), a measure of trauma exposure and perceived social support. Syrian URMs were significantly more likely than URMs originating from other countries to score within the probable clinical depression range (71.7% versus 47.7% respectively, p=0.020), to display probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), i.e., score within clinically significant range of posttraumatic stress symptoms and negative post-trauma cognitions (87% versus 65.9%, p=0.018), and meet the comorbidity PTSD/depression criterion (65.2% versus 40.9%, p=0.021). Multiple linear stepwise regression analyses showed that legal status (seeking asylum in Europe through family reunification procedure) significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms (β=0.29, p=0.004), posttraumatic stress symptoms (β=0.21, p=0.034) and negative cognitions (β=0.33, p=0.001). The total number of stressful/traumatic experiences and male gender were found to be significantly related only with posttraumatic symptoms severity score (β=0.29, p=0.003), whereas lower levels of perceived social support were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms (β=0.24, p=0.018) and negative cognitions and appraisals of the world and the self (β=0.26, p=0.008). These findings highlight the burden of living "in limbo" situation and add weight to the argument for amending restrictive EU asylum policies and accelerating the family reunification procedure under Dublin-III Regulation, as well as the pressing need for improved URMs access to mental health services and psychosocial support.
2016 年巴尔干移民路线关闭，这对无人陪伴的未成年难民（URM）产生了影响，因为绝大多数人认为希腊是他们理想目的地的“中途停留”，因此被迫在该国停留不确定的时间。这给 URM 带来了一种生活在“不确定”中的艰难处境，他们对自己的未来感到不确定，长时间等待庇护申请的结果。这项横断面研究旨在探讨 2016 年抵达希腊的 URM 的心理健康状况。该样本包括 90 名 URM（76 名男孩），年龄在 13-17 岁之间，其中 46 名来自叙利亚，44 名来自其他国家。参与者完成了社会人口统计学信息和一系列临床测量，包括儿童修订后的事件影响量表（CRIES）、抑郁自评量表（DSRS）、儿童创伤后认知清单（cPTCI），用于衡量创伤暴露和感知社会支持。与来自其他国家的 URM 相比，叙利亚 URM 更有可能出现临床抑郁症（分别为 71.7%和 47.7%，p=0.020），表现出可能的创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），即，在创伤后应激症状和负面创伤后认知的临床显著范围内评分（分别为 87%和 65.9%，p=0.018），并且符合 PTSD/抑郁共病标准（分别为 65.2%和 40.9%，p=0.021）。多元线性逐步回归分析表明，法律地位（通过家庭团聚程序在欧洲寻求庇护）显著预测更高水平的抑郁症状（β=0.29，p=0.004）、创伤后应激症状（β=0.21，p=0.034）和负面认知（β=0.33，p=0.001）。研究发现，只有创伤经历的总数和男性性别与创伤后症状严重程度评分显著相关（β=0.29，p=0.003），而感知到的社会支持水平较低与抑郁症状（β=0.24，p=0.018）和负面认知以及对世界和自我的评价有关（β=0.26，p=0.008）。这些发现强调了生活在“不确定”处境的负担，并为修改欧盟限制庇护政策和加快《都柏林-III 条例》下的家庭团聚程序提供了依据，同时迫切需要改善 URM 获得心理健康服务和心理社会支持的机会。
