Worldwide, about 30 million children are currently forcibly displaced, of which a considerable group is separated from their parent(s) or caregiver(s), "unaccompanied refugee minors" (URM). Forced migration is known to considerably impact URMs' psychological wellbeing, leading to elevated levels of emotional problems. Both difficult experiences in URMs' countries of origin and post-migration stressors, such as daily material (e.g., limited housing facilities) and social stressors (e.g., limited social network, racism), and inadequate professional support impact their wellbeing. Yet, little is known about the longitudinal psychological impact of URMs' transit experiences, during the flight. The objective of this study is therefore is to increase the knowledge about the impact of experiences occurring during the flight on the psychological wellbeing of URMs, in relation to the impact of past traumatic experiences in the home country and to daily material and social stressors in the host country. This project uses a highly innovative methodology, through combining different approaches in a mixed-methods and multi-sited, cross-country and longitudinal design. The project is made up of three interlinked studies starting from four different countries: Libya, Greece, and Italy as key transit countries and Belgium as an example of a settlement country for URMs.

Promoter(s): Prof. Ilse Derluyn
Researcher(s)/contact: Sarah Adeyinka, Malte Behrendt, prof. dr. Ine Lietaert, dr. Marina Rota, Océane Uzureau, dr. Floor Verhaeghe
Periode of time: Februari 2017 - Februari 2022