Parental conscription and cumulative adverse experiences in war-affected children and adolescents and their impact on mental health: a comment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Journal: Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health

Volume: 18

Issue: 1

Year of Publication: 

Affiliated Institutions:  Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Steinhövelstrasse , , Ulm, Germany. katrin.erlewein@uniklinik-ulm.de. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Steinhövelstrasse , , Ulm, Germany.

Abstract summary 

With Russia's invasion of the Ukraine on February 2022, Ukrainian children and adolescents have been exposed to several stressful life events. In addition to the confrontation with war, flight and parent-child separation due to flight and forced displacement, the majority underwent another challenge at the initial phase of the war: the fatherly separation due to conscription.In the literature, the negative effects of exposure to war and flight/refuge, parent-child separation due to flight or forced displacement and parental deployment are well established. In the context of self-experienced war, the effects of parent-child separation caused by compulsory military service have not yet been sufficiently taken into account. However, the findings of the literature on the impact of these events on the mental health of children and adolescents show that they are at high risk for developing numerous psychological and behavioral problems.As children's and adolescents' mental health might be severely affected by war and its consequences, interventional programs that address the special needs of those children and adolescents are crucial.

Authors & Co-authors:  Erlewein Gossmann Fegert

Study Outcome 

Source Link: Visit source

Statistics
Citations :  Funke J. 6 Faktoren unter denen Kinder im Ukraine-Krieg leiden; 2023. Available from https://www.savethechildren.de/news/6-faktoren-unter-denen-kinder-im-ukraine-krieg-leiden/. Accessed 25. Jan 2024.
Authors :  3
Identifiers
Doi : 42
SSN : 1753-2000
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
Adolescents;Children;Compulsory military service;Conscription;Flight;Mental health;Parent-child separation;Refuge;War
Study Design
Study Approach
Country of Study
Publication Country
England