Paternal predictors of the mental health of children of Vietnamese refugees
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Intergenerational transmission of trauma as a determinant of mental health has been studied in the offspring of Holocaust survivors and combat veterans, and in refugee families. Mainly negative effects on the children are reported, while a few studies also describe resilience and a possible positive transformation process. A longitudinal prospective cohort study of Vietnamese refugees arriving in Norway in 1982 reports a 23 years follow-up, including spouses and children born in Norway, to study the long-term effects of trauma, flight, and exile on the offspring of the refugees. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: 1. To study the association between the psychological distress of Vietnamese refugee parents and their children after 23 years resettlement.2. To analyse paternal predictors for their children's mental health. METHODS: Information from one or both parents at arrival in 1982 (T1), at follow-up in 1985 (T2), and 23 years after arrival (T3) was included. The mental health was assessed by the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the self-report Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R) for parents (n = 88) and older children (age 19-23 yrs, n = 12), while children aged 4-18 (n = 94) were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: Thirty percent of the families had one parent with a high psychological distress score ("probable caseness" for a mental disorder), while only 4% of the children aged 10 - 23 years were considered as probable cases. In spite of this, there was an association between probable caseness in children and in fathers at T3. A significant negative paternal predictor for the children's mental health at T3 was the father's PTSD at arrival in Norway, while a positive predictor was the father's participation in a Norwegian network three years after arrival. CONCLUSIONS: Children of refugees cannot be globally considered at risk for mental health problems. However, the preceding PTSD in their fathers may constitute a specific risk for them.
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The present review additionally found early integration to be protective against second-generation psychological distress.
“with the present review additionally finding early integration to be protective against second-generation psychological distress (Vaage et al., 2011).”
From Crossing borders: a systematic review identifying potential mechanisms of intergenerational trauma transmission in asylum-seeking and refugee families (2020) · cites this paper as Vaage et al., 2011
The Discussion reports that fathers’ early contact with Norwegians positively predicted their children’s mental health 20 years later. But it cautiously describes an apparent advantage of participation in both Vietnamese and Norwegian networks, noting the small sample. Calling early integration broadly ‘protective’ overstates that specific, qualified finding. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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“higher levels of perceived support have been reported elsewhere in the broader PTSD and relational literature (Thabet, Ibraheem, Shivram, Winter, & Vostanis, 2009), with the present review additionally finding early integration to be protective against secondgeneration psychological distress (Vaage et al., 2011).”
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- Authors
- Vaage, A. B., Thomsen, P. H., Rousseau, C., Wentzel-Larsen, T., Ta, T. V., & Hauff, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- McGill University (CA)
- Oslo University Hospital (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Vaage, Aina B
- Venue
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
- Published
- 2011-01-10
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 2-2
- ISSN
- 1753-2000 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3024952
- OpenAlex
- W2161907675
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 2.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA) (University of Bergen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Universitetet i Bergen
- L. Meltzers Høyskolefond
- H. Lundbeck A/S
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- Vietnamese refugees, refugee children, intergenerational trauma, child mental health, psychological distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, resilience, social networks, long-term follow-up
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