“We will need to build up the atmosphere of trust again”: Service providers’ perceptions of experiences of COVID-19 amongst resettled refugee adolescents

Abstract

Adolescent resettled refugees across the United States have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, through socio-economic stressors in households, disproportionate morbidity and mortality in immigrant communities, and social isolation and loss of learning due to school closures and the shift to online learning. The Study of Adolescent Lives after Migration to America [SALaMA] investigates the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents who come from–or who have parents who came from–the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region and settled in the U.S. There is a gap in understanding of the experiences during the pandemic of MENA-background adolescents in the U.S. The objective of this study was to describe the perspective of educators and other school-affiliated service providers on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and wellbeing of adolescent resettled refugees and access to and quality of education and support services for adolescent resettled refugees. The researchers collected data using in-depth interviews with key informants in Chicago, Illinois; Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Detroit Metropolitan Area [DMA], Michigan, Key informants were school administrators, managers of English language learning services and programs, teachers, therapists, staff of non-governmental organizations and/ or community-based organizations, and case workers. Data analysis was conducted utilizing directed content analysis to develop an initial codebook and identify key themes in the data. Findings revealed a number of pathways through which the pandemic impacted adolescent refugees and immigrants’ mental health and wellbeing, with online programming impacting students’ engagement, motivation and social isolation in terms of peer and provider relationships. Specific dynamics in refugee adolescents’ households increased stressors and reduced engagement through online learning, and access to space and resources needed to support learning during school closures were limited. Service providers emphasized multiple and overlapping impacts on service quality and access, resulting in reduced social supports and mental health prevention and response approaches. Due to the long-term impacts of school closures in the first two years of the pandemic, and ongoing disruption, these data both provide a snapshot of the impacts of the pandemic at a specific moment, as well as insights into ways forward in terms of adapting services and engaging students within restrictions and limitations due to the pandemic. These findings emphasize the need for educators and mental health service providers to rebuild and strengthen relationships with students and families. These findings indicate the need to consider, support and expand social support and mental health services, specifically for refugee adolescent students, in the context of learning and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.