Communal proactive coping strategies among Tamil refugees in Norway: A case study in a naturalistic setting

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An exclusive focus on individual or family coping strategies may be inadequate for people whose major point of concern may be collective healing on a more communal level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To our knowledge, the current study is the first to make use of ethnographic fieldwork methods to investigate this type of coping as a process in a natural setting over time. Participant observation was employed within a Tamil NGO in Norway between August 2006 and December 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tamil refugees in Norway co-operated to appraise their shared life situation and accumulate resources communally to improve it in culturally meaningful ways. Long term aspirations were related to both the situation in the homeland and in exile. However, unforeseen social events created considerable challenges and forced them to modify and adapt their coping strategies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We describe a form of coping previously not described in the scientific literature: C<it>ommunal proactive coping strategies</it>, defined as the process by which group members feel collectively responsible for their future well-being and co-operate to promote desired outcomes and prevent undesired changes. The study shows that proactive coping efforts occur in a dynamic social setting which may force people to use their accumulated proactive coping resources in reactive coping efforts. Theoretical and clinical implications are explored.</p

Preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds: the relationship between emotional problems, parental achievement values, and comparison

Although strong parental achievement values have been associated with positive outcomes among children (e.g., academic success), they have also been connected to emotional problems. The latter effect may be the result of pressure related to such things as parental comparison of filial achievement, which appears to be more predominant among immigrant parents as compared with non-immigrant parents.Our goals were to assess the following: 1) whether higher levels of parental achievement values and comparison are found among immigrant preadolescents; and (2) whether comparison (i.e., comparing a child's achievements with those of siblings and peers) can account for the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems among the children of immigrants.The sample included 902 preadolescents between the ages of 10 and 12 years from two Norwegian cities: Oslo (79%) and Bergen (21%). Forty-seven percent of the sample had immigrant parents, and the others had non-immigrant parents. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by fifth, sixth, and seventh graders from fourteen schools during normal school hours; the questionnaires were completed after school by students from Turkey and Sri Lanka. The questionnaire included measures of emotional problems, parental achievement values, comparison, and school hassles. We used a moderated mediation model to test whether the relationship between parental achievement values and emotional problems was accounted for by comparison and to look at whether this mediation was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds as compared with their non-immigrant peers. Background and academic factors that could confound the unique relationships among the main variables were adjusted for in the analyses.The association between parental achievement values and emotional problems was found to be mediated by comparison. Higher levels of parental achievement values were associated with more comparison, and this relationship was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds. Comparison was only linked to emotional problems in preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds.This study suggests that stronger parental achievement values among immigrants as compared with non-immigrants in Norway are found as early as preadolescence and that comparison may be part of the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems

Own and parental war experience as a risk factor for mental health problems among adolescents with an immigrant background: results from a cross sectional study in Oslo, Norway

BACKGROUND: An increasing proportion of immigrants to Western countries in the past decade are from war affected countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of war experience among adolescents and their parents and to investigate possible differences in internalizing and externalizing mental health problems between adolescents exposed and unexposed to own and parental war experience. METHOD: The study is based on a cross-sectional population-based survey of all 10(th )grade pupils in Oslo for two consecutive years. A total of 1,758 aadolescents were included, all with both parents born outside of Norway. Internalizing and externalizing mental health problems were measured by Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 and subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, respectively. Own and parental war experience is based on adolescent self-report. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents with own war experience was 14% with the highest prevalence in immigrants from Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of parental war experience was 33% with Sub-Saharan Africa being highest. Adolescents reporting own war experience had higher scores for both internalizing and externalizing mental health problems compared to immigrants without war experience, but only externalizing problems reached statistically significant differences. For parental war experience there was a statistically significant relationship between parental war experience and internalizing mental health problems. The association remained significant after adjustment for parental educational level and adolescents' own war experience. CONCLUSION: War exposure is highly prevalent among immigrants living in Oslo, Norway, both among adolescents themselves and their parents. Among immigrants to Norway, parental war experience appears to be stronger associated with mental health problems than adolescents own exposure to war experience

Psykososial tilpasning og psykiske problemer blant barn i innvandrerfamilier

Hensikten med denne rapporten er å formidle kunnskap om psykisk helse, sosiokulturell integrasjon og risikofaktorer knyttet til familie, venner og skole blant barn med innvandrerbakgrunn i alderen 8 – 13 år. Det foreligger svært lite forskningsbasert informasjon, både nasjonalt og internasjonalt, om psykologisk tilpasning blant disse yngste medlemmene i innvandrerfamiliene. Rapporten retter seg både mot politiske myndigheter, fagfolk og frivillige som ser det som sitt ansvar å tilrettelegge gode oppvekstforhold for, og fremme mestring og trivsel blant, barn og unge med innvandrerbakgrunn.publishedVersio

Emotional problems in preadolescents in Norway: the role of gender, ethnic minority status, and home- and school-related hassles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>"The gender gap" refers to a lifelong higher rate of emotional problems in girls, as compared to boys, that appears during adolescence. The gender gap is a well-replicated finding among older adolescents and is assumed to be a cross-cultural phenomenon. However, these cross-cultural studies have not investigated the gender gap in ethnic minorities but sampled ethnic majority adolescents in different countries. Some studies that investigated the gender gap across ethnic groups indirectly (by presenting emotional problem scores stratified by gender and ethnic group) indicate that the gender gap is less prominent or even absent among minorities. The aims of this study were to assess whether the gender gap is found in both majority and minority preadolescents, and to investigate whether a possible (gender and ethnic) group difference can be accounted for by differences in home or school hassles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 902 preadolescent students (aged 10 to 12) from two cities in Norway. We collected self-report measures of emotional problems and home and school hassles. Using mediated moderation analysis we tested whether the interaction effect between gender and ethnic minority background on emotional problems was mediated by home or school hassles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The gender gap in emotional problems was restricted to ethnic majority preadolescents. School hassles but not home hassles accounted in part for this effect.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The absence of the gender gap among minority as opposed to majority preadolescents may indicate that social circumstances may postpone or hamper the emergence and magnitude of the gender gap in ethnic minority preadolescents. In this study, school hassles partly accounted for the combined gender and ethnic group differences on emotional problems. This indicates that school hassles may play a role in the higher levels of emotional problems in preadolescent minority boys and consequently the absence of a gender gap found in our minority sample.</p

Positive development of immigrant youth: Why bother?

It is in the best interest of Europe and other receiving countries to have successful adaptations among their immigrant populations. International research suggests that well-informed policies and practices are necessary for the successful incorporation of immigrants into new societies. This evidence shows that: Children&apos;s positive adaptations and well being provide the foundation for healthy and productive adult lives; providing immigrant families with economic opportunities and reducing barriers to obtain adequate employment equips parents to raise well-adjusted and productive citizens; policies toward immigrants are important for the successful adaptation of immigrant youth; immigrant youth adopting the host cultures and languages while also maintaining the heritage culture and language, do better and contribute more to society than youth who learn only one language or cultural orientation; discrimination, racism and exclusion have deleterious effects for positive youth development. We therefore recommend that immigration policies and practices in receiving countries should be informed by previous research and interventions; promote non-segregated environments, welcoming environments; provide economic opportunities; provide early childcare, education, and health-related prevention and intervention programs; create public campaigns; and incorporate these considerations in the resettlement of refugees

Is relatively young age within a school year a risk factor for mental health problems and poor school performance? A population-based cross-sectional study of adolescents in Oslo, Norway

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that children who are relatively young within a school year are at greater risk for poorer school performance compared with their older peers. One study also reported that relative age within a school year is an independent risk factor for emotional and behavioral problems. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that relatively younger adolescents in the multiethnic population of Oslo have poorer school performance and more mental health problems than their relatively older classmates within the same school year. METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional study included all 10(th)-grade pupils enrolled in 2000 and 2001 in the city of Oslo. The participation rate was 88%. Of the 6,752 pupils in the study sample, 25% had a non-Norwegian background. Mental health problems were quantified using the abbreviated versions of Symptom Check List-25 (SCL-10) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Information on school performances and mental health problems were self-reported. We controlled for confounding factors including parental educational level, social support, gender, and ethnicity. RESULTS: The youngest one-third of pupils had significantly lower average school grades than the middle one-third and oldest one-third of their classmates (p < 0.001). Of the mental health problems identified in the questionnaires, the groups differed only on peer problems; the youngest one-third reported significantly more problems than the middle and oldest groups (p < 0.05). Age within a school year and gender showed significant interactions with total SDQ score, SDQ peer problems score, SDQ pro social score, and SCL-10 score. After stratifying for gender, the peer problem scores differed significantly between age groups only among boys. The SCL-10 score was significant, but only in girls and in the opposite direction to that expected, with the oldest pupils having significantly higher scores than the other two groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In adolescents from a multicultural city in Norway, relative age within a school year significantly influenced academic performance. In contrast to data from Great Britain, relative age within a school year was not an important risk factor for mental health problems in adolescents in Oslo

Acculturation as a Developmental Pathway

This chapter looks at some developmental issues in the acculturation of children and adolescents with immigrant backgrounds. In addition to raising critical questions about this line of research, the chapter examines some underlying assumptions and their implications for the study of acculturation in younger people. It is argued that ambiguities in the final outcome of acculturation and differences in acculturation experiences of adults and children make it necessary to bring developmental perspectives closer into this line of research among children and adolescents in immigrant families. Against this background a modified developmental contextual model is suggested as an alternate perspective to the understanding of the acculturation of children and adolescents

Problemas de Conducta y Depresión entre Refugiados no Acom-pañados: La asociación entre el impacto del trauma pre-migratorio y la aculturación

There is scarce knowledge about the long term adaptation of children who migrate without the company of their legal guardians to apply for asylum in a foreign country. The present study investigated the combined effects of impact of premigratory war-related trauma, and indices of current acculturation (culture competence and ingroup / outgroup hassles) on conduct and depression problems. Participants were 566 refugees who had arrived in Norway as unaccompanied minor asylumseekers, were granted residence and resettled all over the country. They had a mean length of stay in Norway of 3.7 years and a mean age of 18.9 years. They gathered in groups in their home towns, and filled in questionnaires with information about pre- and post-migration experiences and mental health. The findings imply that while this group of young refugees reports few conduct problems, the level of depression is high. At the same time, their acculturation process is progressing, as they are achieving necessary culture competence to integrate into majority society and maintain contact with their culture of origin. A model assessing effects of culture competence and ingroup/outgroup hassles in combination with impact of war-related traumatic events, did not account for much of the individual differences in conduct problems. In contrast, when depressive problems were concerned, the included acculturation indices explained substantial variation in depression problems, over and above effects of impact of war-related traumatic events. It is concluded that ethnic and host culture competence should be the focus of interventions to promote socio-cultural integration and mental health.Hay escaso conocimiento sobre la adaptación a largo plazo de los niños menores de edad que emigran sin ser acompañados por sus padres para pedir asilo en un país extranjero. El presente estudio investigó los efectos combinados del impacto de haber tenido experiencias traumáticas relacionadas con la guerra antes de emigrar y los índices del proceso de aculturación actual (competencia cultural y problemas con endogrupos / exogrupos) sobre la depresión y los problemas conductuales.Los participantes fueron 566 refugiados menores no acompañados que habían llegado a Noruega buscando asilo y a los que se concedió la residencia y que estaban domiciliados por todo el país. Su estancia media en Noruega era de 3,7 años y su edad media era de 18,9 años. Se reunían en grupos en sus lugares de residencia y rellenaban cuestionarios con información acerca de sus experiencias pre y post- migratorias y de su salud mental.Los resultados encontrados indican que, aunque este grupo de jóvenes refugiados informa de pocos problemas de conducta, el nivel de depresión es alto. Sin embargo, a pesar de los problemas de depresión, su proceso de aculturación hace progresos, ya que están adquiriendo la competencia cultural necesaria para integrarse en la sociedad mayoritaria y mantener el contacto con su cultura de origen. Un modelo para evaluar los efectos de la competencia cultural y de los problemas con endogrupos/exogrupos en combinación con el impacto de experiencias traumáticas relacionadas con la guerra no explicaba gran parte de las diferencias individuales en los problemas de conducta. En cambio, los índices de aculturación explicaban una variación sustancial de los problemas de depresión, por encima de los efectos del impacto de experiencias traumáticas relacionadas con la guerra. Se concluye que la competencia cultural étnica y de la sociedad de acogida debe ser el enfoque  a seguir en las intervenciones para impulsar la integración socio-cultural y la salud mental