Post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and anxiety in unaccompanied refugee minors exposed to war-related trauma: a systematic review

ABSTRACT This systematic review gathers data from the existing literature on the prevalence and course of psychiatric disorders among unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs). The databases PsychINFO, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched and reference lists of papers were also manually examined to identify relevant articles. Peer-reviewed journal articles included focused on the mental health of URMs, who were forced to leave their place of residence because of threats of wars. A narrative synthesis was done to analyse the data presented in the studies. Results from the fifteen studies included in the review highlighted the high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), depression, and anxiety among URMs. The association between internalizing disorders and exposure to trauma, and time since displacement were examined. Separation from family members, death of parents and close relatives, level of exposure to armed conflicts, and threats to a person were the most frequent stressful life events (SLE) among URMs before migration. Although the number of research done on this vulnerable population is increasing overtime, the review highlights the need for further examination of refugee mental health and the factors affecting symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety.