This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Svedin, C. G. Articles by Wadsby, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Svedin, C. G. Articles by Wadsby, M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Mental Health Among Immigrant and Refugee Children of Divorced Parents

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden

Kristina Back

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden

Marie Wadsby

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden

The mental status of 27 children in divorced immigrant families and 17 children in divorced refugee families was examined, and compared to that of 113 children in divorced Swedish families. Differences in divorce-pattern between these families and Swedish divorced families were analysed. Viewed together, the immigrant and refugee children displayed a significantly higher symptom load compared to Swedish children from both divorced and intact homes. When examined separately, the refugee children but not the immigrant children were more troubled than Swedish children from divorced families. The shorter time the children had spent in Sweden, the higher was their symptom load. In comparison to Swedish divorced couples, the immigrant and refugee couples had been married for a shorter time, had been unhappy for a longer time prior to divorce, and joint custody was less common. Most of the marriages had been unhappy before the arrival in Sweden, but a dissolution had not been seen as feasible earlier. As among the Swedish couples, it was the woman who had initiated the divorce in most cases, and it was also the mother who became the residential parent in most cases.

Key Words: mental health • children • refugee • immigrant • divorce

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 22, No. 3, 178-186 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489402200304


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?