Born in displacement: Psychosocial and mental health impacts of country of birth among urban Somali refugee youth

ABSTRACT

Urban refugees often face tremendous adversities during displacement that exacerbate mental health and psychosocial outcomes. Given the lack of research on how extended displacement affects mental health in urban refugee youth, this study examines the differential effects of country of birth on trauma exposure and psychosocial factors that influence mental health experiences among Somali refugee youth in urban Kenya (n = 303). Findings reveals that childhood trauma and impeded social functioning predicted mental health outcomes. Being born in Kenya was a significant predictor of poor mental health despite there being no significant difference in trauma exposures and psychosocial factors between Somali-born and Kenya-born youth. This difference can be attributed to prolonged displacement, disrupted development of cultural identity, and discrimination experienced in the host country. Given the widely devastating effects of childhood trauma and community violence, mental health interventions need to be two-prolonged: addressing and preventing intergenerational trauma sequelae through family-based interventions; and community-level programs and advocacy for safety and protection for the displaced. Our findings also emphasize that future interventions for urban refugee communities should be inclusive to all community members, considering shared vulnerability to community violence as well as intergenerational transmission of traumas through childhood adversities and lacking support.

KEYWORDS:

• Trauma
• mental health
• refugee
• Somali diaspora
• urban displacement

Acknowledgement

Tawakal Medical Centre (TMC) provided tremendous support for this study. The authors wish to thank Somali community leaders and study participants in Eastleigh, Kenya for sharing cultural insights and comments on this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by United States Agency for International Development: [Grant Number CHXEAS053]; Virginia Commonwealth University: [Grant Number Startup fund].