TY - JOUR

T1 - School-based Psychosocial Interventions' Effectiveness in Strengthening Refugee and Migrant Adolescents' Mental Health, Resilience, and Social Relations: A Four-country Cluster Randomized Study

AU - Spaas, Caroline

AU - Said-Metwaly, Sameh

AU - Skovdal, Morten

AU - Primdahl, Nina Langer

AU - Jervelund, Signe Smith

AU - Hilden, Per Kristian

AU - Andersen, Arnfinn J.

AU - Opaas, Marianne

AU - Soye, Emma

AU - Watters, Charles

AU - Verelst, An

AU - Derluyn, Ilse

AU - Colpin, Hilde

AU - De Haene, Lucia

N1 - Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 754849. We are foremost grateful to all the young people and school partners with whom we were privileged to collaborate throughout this study. We want to thank Dr. Philip Jefferies at Dalhousie University for his readiness to reflect with us on our findings concerning resilience. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - School-based psychosocial interventions are increasingly put forward as a way to support young refugees’ and migrants’ well-being and mental health in resettlement. However, the evidence on these interventions’ effectiveness remains scarce and scholars denounce particular gaps in the evidence to date, pointing to a lack of large-scale, controlled studies and studies including social outcome measures. This cluster randomized study aims to strengthen the evidence base on school-based psychosocial interventions for refugee and migrant youth by assessing the effect of two interventions, Classroom Drama and Welcome to School, on youth’s mental health, resilience, and social relations in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Multilevel analyses were conducted separately for the two interventions (Classroom Drama, n = 307, ages 11-19; Welcome to School, n = 251, ages 11-23), using separate no-treatment control groups. Our analyses indicated a significant main, positive effect of Classroom Drama on perceived family support, and an effect on perceived support from friends that was moderated by country: in the United Kingdom, the intervention group reported an increase in perceived friend support, whereas the control group reported a decrease. Furthermore, baseline resilience moderated the effect of the Classroom Drama intervention on behavioral difficulties and well-being. No effects of Welcome to School on any of the outcome variables were found. Overall, this study provides novel, nuanced evidence on school-based psychosocial interventions for refugee and migrant adolescents.

AB - School-based psychosocial interventions are increasingly put forward as a way to support young refugees’ and migrants’ well-being and mental health in resettlement. However, the evidence on these interventions’ effectiveness remains scarce and scholars denounce particular gaps in the evidence to date, pointing to a lack of large-scale, controlled studies and studies including social outcome measures. This cluster randomized study aims to strengthen the evidence base on school-based psychosocial interventions for refugee and migrant youth by assessing the effect of two interventions, Classroom Drama and Welcome to School, on youth’s mental health, resilience, and social relations in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Multilevel analyses were conducted separately for the two interventions (Classroom Drama, n = 307, ages 11-19; Welcome to School, n = 251, ages 11-23), using separate no-treatment control groups. Our analyses indicated a significant main, positive effect of Classroom Drama on perceived family support, and an effect on perceived support from friends that was moderated by country: in the United Kingdom, the intervention group reported an increase in perceived friend support, whereas the control group reported a decrease. Furthermore, baseline resilience moderated the effect of the Classroom Drama intervention on behavioral difficulties and well-being. No effects of Welcome to School on any of the outcome variables were found. Overall, this study provides novel, nuanced evidence on school-based psychosocial interventions for refugee and migrant adolescents.

KW - intervention

KW - Mental health

KW - Migrant youth and adolescents

KW - Refugee youth and adolescents

KW - School-based psychosocial

KW - Social relations

U2 - 10.5093/pi2023a12

DO - 10.5093/pi2023a12

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

C2 - 37691715

AN - SCOPUS:85170845312

VL - 32

SP - 177

EP - 189

JO - Psychosocial Intervention

JF - Psychosocial Intervention

SN - 1132-0559

IS - 3

ER -