MENTAL-HEALTH AMONG IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE CHILDREN OF DIVORCED PARENTS

The mental status of 27 children in divorced immigrant families and 17 children in divorced refugee families was examined, and compared to t hat of 113 children in divorced Swedish families. Differences in divor ce-pattern between these families and Swedish divorced families were a nalysed. Viewed together, the immigrant and refugee children displayed a significantly higher symptom load compared to Swedish children from both divorced and intact homes. When examined separately, the refugee children but not the immigrant children were more troubled than Swedi sh children from divorced families. The shorter time the children had spent in Sweden, the higher was their symptom load. In comparison to S wedish divorced couples, the immigrant and refugee couples had been ma rried for a shorter time, had been unhappy for a longer time prior to divorce, and joint custody was less common. Most of the marriages had been unhappy before the arrival in Sweden, but a dissolution had not b een seen as feasible earlier. As among the Swedish couples, it was the woman who had initiated the divorce in most cases, and it was also th e mother who became the residential parent in most cases.