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Psychopathology in African Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Austria

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Abstract

We assessed the prevalence of a range of psychopathology among African unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) in Austria. Additionally, the predictive value of war exposure on PTSD symptoms was examined. Forty-one URMs were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for children and adolescents, the Youth Self-Report, the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index and Facts About You. As expected, 56% of youth had at least one diagnosis by structured clinical interview. The most common diagnoses were adjustment disorder, PTSD and dysthymia. War affliction marginally predicted (p = 0.065) PTSD controlling for age and gender. URMs had high levels of psychopathology compared to norms. Their PTSD rates were somewhat lower than found in previous studies. We discuss methodological and substantive reasons for this finding. Future studies need to examine URMs across the entire diagnostic spectrum and employ multi-method designs to yield valid results. The psychopathology in URMs has clinical and forensic implications.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant (Jubilaeumsfonds) from the Austrian National Bank to Dr. Sabine Voelkl-Kernstock. The authors would like to thank Mag. Heinz Fronek (Asylkoordination Austria) for his support and advice.

Conflicts of Interests

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Julia Huemer, Sabine Voelkl-Kernstock & Max Friedrich

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland, MC 3077, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Niranjan Karnik

  3. Rohrbach Hospital, Krankenhausstraße 1, 4150, Rohrbach, Austria

    Elisabeth Granditsch

  4. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Neptunstrasse 60, 8032, Zürich, Switzerland

    Belinda Plattner

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Child Psychiatry and Child Development, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5719, USA

    Hans Steiner

Authors
  1. Julia Huemer
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  2. Niranjan Karnik
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  3. Sabine Voelkl-Kernstock
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  4. Elisabeth Granditsch
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  5. Belinda Plattner
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  6. Max Friedrich
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  7. Hans Steiner
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Correspondence to Julia Huemer.

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Huemer, J., Karnik, N., Voelkl-Kernstock, S. et al. Psychopathology in African Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Austria. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 42, 307–319 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0219-4

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