Psychological needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in residential care in Spain

An important number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) has been received by the Spanish Child Protection System in the past two decades. Nevertheless, few or nothing is known about the possible emotional or... [ view full abstract ]

An important number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) has been received by the Spanish Child Protection System in the past two decades. Nevertheless, few or nothing is known about the possible emotional or behavioural problems these underage youths may suffer due to the consequences of their migration process.
This research aims to identify some of the possible hardships these minors present, from their own view and from that of social workers who attend them in residential child-care institutions.
Information was gathered by applying two forms of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA; Achenbach and Rescorla, 2001) for a sample of 64 UASC. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was completed by professional and the Youth Self-Report (YSR) by youths. Age ranged from 13 to 17 years, the majority was male. Origin was diverse with Moroccans being predominant. During the process of data collection, foreign minors were living in residential child-care institutions throughout Spain.
Results underscore the existence of clinical profiles, being 25.10% for the YSR and 31.26% for the CBCL. Correlations of the two forms show significantly higher internalized problems reported by youths than detected by professionals. This suggests the need of a screening system which helps professionals detect internalized symptoms. In addition to that, emotional upset expressed by minors needs to be taken into consideration by social workers.
Furthermore, the perceived well-being of the sample was assessed by applying the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI; Cummins et al., 2003) with an increased number of domains. Median score of 76.4 (out of 100) suggests moderate personal satisfaction. Domains presenting highest scores are family (83.3), leisure (80.8) and personal relationships (78.5). Lowest scores are registered for standard of living (69.9), residential situation (70.8) and achievement in life (71.6). The subsample classifying as clinical according to the CBCL show significantly lower satisfaction for both Personal Wellbeing and Life as a Whole. Again, the low satisfaction with the living situation in residential child-care institutions was confirmed. A relationship between emotional well-being and some aspects of personal well-being can be concluded.
Overall results of the study underscore the need of further research on mental health issues of UASM with the aim of improving their quality of life.