Longitudinal study of resettlement hardships, school environment and resiliency on future education, employment, and healthcare use among refugee minors

Research problem, specific questions:The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a difficult journey for many adolescents, and it can be especially challenging for minors with a refugee background who have experienced major changes regarding their formation of self-identity and sense of belonging in a group.

Refugee adolescents tend to experience poorer mental health outcomes upon arrival compared to their peers, yet some can adjust and have no mental health problems within a few years of resettlement.

There is significant research on mental health of child refugees, but little exists on the impact of conditions during the initial resettlement years on mental health, education and labour market participation.The project consists of three complimentary studies (1 cross-sectional, 2 prospective) that investigate the following research questions:How are self-reported social and financial hardships in the early stage of resettlement associated with HRQoL in refugee minors, and how does age, gender and resiliency resources moderate this association?How are self-reported social and financial hardships prospectively associated with healthcare utilization and drug prescription in the follow-up period 2019-2022 and do age, gender, peer and social support buffer these associations in the critical transition from adolescence to young adulthood?What is the association between school environment factors, age, gender and future educational participation and attainment, and labour market participation among refugee minors in the follow-up period 2019 to 2022?Data and method: The source population consists of all 25,584 refugee minors aged 12-18-years from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria resettled in Sweden between 2014 and 2018 (N=2,559).Plan for project realisation: We will link previously collected self-reported survey data (resettlement hardships, living and family conditions, school, subjective health complaints) to prospective, individual-level register data (educational and labour market participation, healthcare utilisation) for four years of follow-up: 2019-2022.

Regression analyses will be used to assess the association between structural and individual factors.Relevance: The findings will be valuable for designing early promotion and prevention interventions and support systems that promote equality, inclusion, and education/work achievement in this vulnerable population