Study of Afghan children seeking asylum in the UK

A new study indicates that about one-third of asylum-seeking Afghan children who arrive in the UK without their parents or a guardian are likely to be experience symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. However, they also found those in foster care were less likely to be suffering from PTSD than those in shared accommodation with other asylum-seekers and refugees. The research by Oxford University looked at boys or young men aged between 13 and 18 years old. The study suggests that of this group, teenagers in foster care were less likely to be suffering from post-traumatic stress and this could be because those in foster care received more support. Published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress , this is the largest study to examine the prevalence of probable PSTD amongst unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the UK, and is the first ever to examine this among Afghan unaccompanied asylum-seekers. This is despite the fact that Afghans are the largest group of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the UK. Although around half of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the UK are from Afghanistan, there is very limited evidence on the state of their mental health, notes the study.