Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth

This study aims to explore the prevalence of alcohol and substance use among young refugees along with the indicators of experienced psychological difficulties. It is based on a sample of 184 children and adolescents aged 11–18 years old, residing at two refugee centers in the Republic of Serbia. Ou...

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Autores principales:	Jelena Vasic, Roberto Grujicic, Oliver Toskovic, Milica Pejovic Milovancevic
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	alcohol and substance use refugee youth adolescents PTSD abuse and neglect trauma Psychiatry RC435-571
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/264a0ee562224812857225405be2d99a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:264a0ee562224812857225405be2d99a2021-11-19T05:01:48ZMental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth1664-064010.3389/fpsyt.2021.713152https://doaj.org/article/264a0ee562224812857225405be2d99a2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.713152/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-0640This study aims to explore the prevalence of alcohol and substance use among young refugees along with the indicators of experienced psychological difficulties. It is based on a sample of 184 children and adolescents aged 11–18 years old, residing at two refugee centers in the Republic of Serbia. Out of 184 participants, the majority was male (N = 155; 84.29%). More than a half of participants (53.3%) displayed significant symptoms of PTSD. 50% consume energy drinks, 28% use tobacco; 13% use alcohol; 4.6% use marijuana; 1.7% use LSD, amphetamines, glue, tranquilizers and cocaine. Female respondents were more frequently expressing emotional difficulties (p < 0.05) while male participants were more frequent users of alcohol or substances (p < 0.01). Younger children were more frequently expressing symptoms of hyperactivity and prosocial behavior, while they were less frequently using substances. There is also a significant negative correlation between the years of education and individual proneness to substance use. Furthermore, those who resided in a greater number of refugee camps were found to experience greater levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties and face a greater risk of physical abuse. The burden of migration increases proneness to substance use, as a consequence of scarce coping resources and the stress of adjusting. Migrants are vulnerable to substance use, since some of them have commonly witnessed and/or personally experienced pre-and post-migration stress and trauma, including loss of homes and livelihoods, violence, torture and family separation. Preventive programs need to focus on the problem of alcohol and substance use among this vulnerable population.Jelena VasicRoberto GrujicicOliver ToskovicMilica Pejovic MilovancevicFrontiers Media S.A.articlealcohol and substance userefugee youthadolescentsPTSDabuse and neglecttraumaPsychiatryRC435-571ENFrontiers in Psychiatry, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	alcohol and substance use refugee youth adolescents PTSD abuse and neglect trauma Psychiatry RC435-571
spellingShingle	alcohol and substance use refugee youth adolescents PTSD abuse and neglect trauma Psychiatry RC435-571 Jelena Vasic Roberto Grujicic Oliver Toskovic Milica Pejovic Milovancevic Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
description	This study aims to explore the prevalence of alcohol and substance use among young refugees along with the indicators of experienced psychological difficulties. It is based on a sample of 184 children and adolescents aged 11–18 years old, residing at two refugee centers in the Republic of Serbia. Out of 184 participants, the majority was male (N = 155; 84.29%). More than a half of participants (53.3%) displayed significant symptoms of PTSD. 50% consume energy drinks, 28% use tobacco; 13% use alcohol; 4.6% use marijuana; 1.7% use LSD, amphetamines, glue, tranquilizers and cocaine. Female respondents were more frequently expressing emotional difficulties (p < 0.05) while male participants were more frequent users of alcohol or substances (p < 0.01). Younger children were more frequently expressing symptoms of hyperactivity and prosocial behavior, while they were less frequently using substances. There is also a significant negative correlation between the years of education and individual proneness to substance use. Furthermore, those who resided in a greater number of refugee camps were found to experience greater levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties and face a greater risk of physical abuse. The burden of migration increases proneness to substance use, as a consequence of scarce coping resources and the stress of adjusting. Migrants are vulnerable to substance use, since some of them have commonly witnessed and/or personally experienced pre-and post-migration stress and trauma, including loss of homes and livelihoods, violence, torture and family separation. Preventive programs need to focus on the problem of alcohol and substance use among this vulnerable population.
format	article
author	Jelena Vasic Roberto Grujicic Oliver Toskovic Milica Pejovic Milovancevic
author_facet	Jelena Vasic Roberto Grujicic Oliver Toskovic Milica Pejovic Milovancevic
author_sort	Jelena Vasic
title	Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
title_short	Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
title_full	Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
title_fullStr	Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
title_full_unstemmed	Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth
title_sort	mental health, alcohol and substance use of refugee youth
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/264a0ee562224812857225405be2d99a
work_keys_str_mv	AT jelenavasic mentalhealthalcoholandsubstanceuseofrefugeeyouth AT robertogrujicic mentalhealthalcoholandsubstanceuseofrefugeeyouth AT olivertoskovic mentalhealthalcoholandsubstanceuseofrefugeeyouth AT milicapejovicmilovancevic mentalhealthalcoholandsubstanceuseofrefugeeyouth
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Mental Health, Alcohol and Substance Use of Refugee Youth

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