Skip Navigation

Journal of Refugee Studies 2003 16(1):67-81; doi:10.1093/jrs/16.1.67
© 2003 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rousseau, C.
Right arrow Articles by Drapeau, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Are Refugee Children an At-Risk Group? A Longitudinal Study of Cambodian Adolescents

Cecile Rousseau1,2 and Aline Drapeau1

1 Transcultural Psychiatry, Montreal Children's Hospital, Westmount, Quebec 2 Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

The discrepancy between the intensity of psychiatric symptoms and the social adjustment of adolescent refugees has been noted repeatedly and remains a puzzle, given the loss and trauma experienced through their migration process. To verify whether this lack of association between symptoms and social adjustment was specific to refugees and stable throughout adolescence, 57 young Cambodians were followed over a four-year period, from early to late adolescence, and their profile was compared with that of a peer group made up of 45 native Québécois. The profile of emotional and behavioural symptoms reported by Cambodian-born adolescents and native Québécois was similar, but the latter reported more risk behaviours than Cambodians. While some subgroups of adolescent refugees exhibit high levels of symptoms and may be in need of help, the resilience of adolescent refugees should not be underestimated by decision makers and school and health authorities in host countries.

Received August 2001. Revised October 2002.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur J Public HealthHome page
E. Montgomery and A. Foldspang
Discrimination, mental problems and social adaptation in young refugees
Eur J Public Health, April 1, 2008; 18(2): 156 - 161.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.