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Narrative analysis of interviews conducted with African unaccompanied refugee minors
Anselm Bründlmayer1, Chloe Sales2, Ray Zhang3
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Background:
Unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) are a particularly vulnerable subgroup of refugees, frequently exhibiting high levels of distress and a wide range of trauma-related symptoms. They are at risk of poor mental health outcomes such as developing complex posttraumatic stress disorder, an emergent mental disorder associated with re-experiencing, hyperarousal, and avoidance of trauma-related stimuli.
Methods:
We conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews with 28 unaccompanied refugee minors from African countries residing in Austria.
Results:
Three main strands of narrative focus were identified: war-related experiences, present experiences in the new home country, and different coping strategies.
Conclusions:
The results of this study suggest that URM narratives are highly complex and that URM require supportive networks and psychotherapeutic care.
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