Mental health screening of children from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in the Netherlands: A cross-sectional study

Mental health screening of children from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in the Netherlands: A cross-sectional study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Mental health screening of children from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in the Netherlands: A cross-sectional study Ilse L. Verhagen, Mariëtte H.H. Hoogsteder, Marc J. Noom, Ramón J.L. Lindauer, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9014176/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background. Forced displacement of children has reached unprecedented levels worldwide, with many experiencing elevated rates of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This highlights the need for effective mental health screening to support timely intervention. Objective. This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence of mental health problems among refugee and asylum-seeking children in Dutch preventive youth health care and the psychometric properties of the screening instruments used. Methods. Refugee and asylum-seeking children and parents (N = 111) completed self- or parent-report versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale-13 (CRIES-13) using audio computer-assisted self-interviews. The Stressful Life Events checklist (SLE) was administered verbally. Prevalence rates were calculated, correlations were analysed using Spearman’s rho and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α. Results. Participants reported high exposure to stressful life events (M = 3.5). Up to 51% showed clinically elevated PTSD symptoms and up to 29% elevated emotional and behavioural problems. The SDQ and CRIES demonstrated sufficient internal consistency. Exposure to stressful life events was associated with elevated mental health problems in children’s self-reports, but not in parent-reports. Conclusions. Refugee and asylum-seeking children in this study reported high rates of mental health problems, underscoring the need for systematic screening to support early identification and referral. The SLE, SDQ and CRIES-8 appear to be useful screening tools for this population, although results must be interpreted with caution. mental health screening refugees asylum seekers children post-traumatic stress disorder public health Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterials.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9014176","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":603717206,"identity":"c265fc0c-a5c8-4f5b-ac9b-e0e12b225e23","order_by":0,"name":"Ilse L. 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This highlights the need for effective mental health screening to support timely intervention.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eObjective.\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis cross-sectional study examined the prevalence of mental health problems among refugee and asylum-seeking children in Dutch preventive youth health care and the psychometric properties of the screening instruments used.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMethods.\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRefugee and asylum-seeking children and parents (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;111) completed self- or parent-report versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Children\u0026rsquo;s Revised Impact of Event Scale-13 (CRIES-13) using audio computer-assisted self-interviews. The Stressful Life Events checklist (SLE) was administered verbally. Prevalence rates were calculated, correlations were analysed using Spearman\u0026rsquo;s rho and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eResults.\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eParticipants reported high exposure to stressful life events (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.5). Up to 51% showed clinically elevated PTSD symptoms and up to 29% elevated emotional and behavioural problems. The SDQ and CRIES demonstrated sufficient internal consistency. Exposure to stressful life events was associated with elevated mental health problems in children\u0026rsquo;s self-reports, but not in parent-reports.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eConclusions.\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRefugee and asylum-seeking children in this study reported high rates of mental health problems, underscoring the need for systematic screening to support early identification and referral. The SLE, SDQ and CRIES-8 appear to be useful screening tools for this population, although results must be interpreted with caution.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Mental health screening of children from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds in the Netherlands: A cross-sectional study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-12 19:49:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9014176/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f66bf181-fd7a-404a-821c-bdbd30ca2354","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 12th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Rejected","date":"2026-05-12T15:44:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-05T19:08:24+00:00","index":37,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-12T15:55:55+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-12 19:49:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9014176","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9014176","identity":"rs-9014176","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}