对于逃离战争和迫害的个人和家庭来说，强迫移民旅程是一个艰巨而风险的，对于那些在另一个国家找到新希望的人来说，有适应性的挑战甚至测试了最有弹性的个人。年轻的难民适应新的生活和国家是什么感觉？什么是积极的解决经验？我们可以从澳大利亚的经验中学到什么？
到目前为止，还没有对年轻难民在澳大利亚进行调整和安置的经验进行强有力的调查。我们的研究团队专注于这个问题，并试图捕获难民儿童和青少年的整体调整2 to 3 year period after arriving in Australia.
我们的团队使用了来自“在澳大利亚建立新生活”（BNLA）研究, a large population-based longitudinal cohort study of resettled refugees and their families, most of whom had been granted permanent humanitarian visas, to gain insight to how young refugees are adjusting to their new lives in Australia. From October 2015 to February 2016 the BNLA study collected information from caregivers of 694 child and adolescent refugees, aged 5 to 17 that covered a range of settlement outcomes.
在各个年龄段和性别之间，发现76-94％的年轻难民在正常的范围内根据广泛使用的儿童调整措施 -优势和困难问卷. When we compared these adjustment outcomes to matched young people in the Australian community, we in fact found that young refugees overall had similar or better adjustment levels, and in some instances – for example conduct problems – refugees experienced less difficulties than Australian norms.
A contrary finding though was that refugees across ages and genders in this study did experience more peer problems than Australian norms. In the context of positive adjustment overall, this finding was a surprise to the research team, and is an area that warrants further exploration: are peer problems an extension of acculturative stress or does social exclusion play a role?
研究团队还从已知影响儿童福祉的四个重要领域的角度研究了调整：个人，家庭，学校和社区因素。我们发现一些与调整更好和较差有关的因素。评级更好的身体健康和学校成就与更好的调整有关；但是，敌对的育儿风格和学校缺勤与调整较差有关。
这些风险和保护因素告诉我们一些非常重要的事情，即我们如何更好地支持新国家的难民，例如，通过支持育儿，鼓励学校参与和基于学校的成就并促进身体健康的策略。从更广泛的角度来看，这些因素为决策者，从业人员和研究人员提供了信息，调整是一种多确定的结构。
这些发现是澳大利亚独有的吗？
We think these findings suggest a high level of resilience in this group. But there are other potential reasons for this positive outcome. Our findings could be telling us that refugees experience a period of stabilization following an abating of initial stressors associated with resettlement, such as language acquisition, housing concerns, and settling into school.
总体而言，我们的研究证实，在澳大利亚永久安置的年轻难民通常会很好地适应与强迫移民相关的逆境之后的新生活。
Furthermore, there may be unique factors related to the process of Australia’s refugee intake. For instance, most refugees in this study were granted a permanent humanitarian visa and arrived accompanied through an offshore humanitarian pathway, potentially keeping families together. Also, positive adjustment may be related to the employment of effective resettlement policies, practices, and interventions provided for this group at this stage of the migration journey.
总体而言，我们的研究证实，在澳大利亚永久安置的年轻难民通常会很好地适应与强迫移民相关的逆境之后的新生活。While we certainly need to continue efforts to identify vulnerabilities and young refugees in need of mental health support in the settlement phase, there is plenty more that can be done to support well-being and adjustment in young refugees.
Our findings certainly need to be considered in an Australian context of early settlement and acculturation, but they could have implications for other high income countries that also support young refugees and their families. We also need to keep in mind cultural differences in responses that may affect these findings.
We’d like to see if our findings are replicated in other young refugees around the world, as well as follow up these children and adolescents over time to observe whether these positive outcomes persist or change over time, to gain an even deeper understanding of the experiences and trajectories of young refugees.
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