Results: The results showed significant correlations between the presence of traumatic experiences in the personal history and the migration process, and the presence of psychopathological risks, mainly referring to behaviours (such as conflictual relations, hypervigilance and control, sleep disorders) and adapting to the new environment. The Emergency Response Office of the Municipality of Milan, the local socio-educational communities and some other agencies. Sign Observation Grid), created through a shared and inter-professional method involving members of Migranti clinicians team of the Servizio di Neuropsichiatria Infantile e dell’Adolescenza dell’Ospedale Maggiore Ca’ Granda Policlinico di Milano, The instrument used for this purpose was the Griglia di Osservazione dei Segnali di Rischio (Risk This study aimed to explore the symptoms and risk signals related to the presence of traumatic experiences within a group of unaccompanied foreign minors living in socio-educational communities in the Milan area. Reception and care structures should provide more adequate preventive and curative interventions to these at-risk groups, and government policies should consider these adolescents primarily as 'minors' rather than just 'refugees.' This study confirms the importance of the availability of parents to adolescents who have to deal with migration experiences, because separated refugee adolescents are at higher risk to experience multiple traumatic experiences and to develop severe mental health problems. Despite the fact that refugee adolescents living only with their mother experienced more traumatizing events compared to adolescents living with both parents, they have fewer mental health problems than refugee adolescents living with their father. Risk factors influencing the development of serious mental health problems (anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress) are separation from parents, high number of traumatizing events experienced, and gender. Refugee adolescents separated from both parents experienced the highest number of traumatic events compared to accompanied refugee adolescents.

One thousand two hundred ninety-four adolescents-10% of them refugee adolescents separated from both parents-completed three self-report questionnaires (Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-37A, Stressful Life Events, and Reaction of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress) on the prevalence of traumatic experiences, anxiety, and depression symptoms, externalizing problems, and posttraumatic stress. As migration and separation from parents are widely recognized as important risk factors for the mental health of adolescents, this study aims to investigate mental health problems in refugee adolescents separated from their parents compared to their accompanied peers, all living in Belgium.

Refugee by Erica Stevens