Effectiveness of psychological interventions on young refugees' social adjustment : a meta-analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of existing psychological interventions on the social adjustment of young refugees. From 51 peer-reviewed articles identified in the literature, 11 studies with 25 therapeutic effect sizes met criteria for inclusion (N = 1,736). Hedges’ g was used to measure effect sizes and a random-effects model was conducted. The number of sessions and participant age were considered as potential moderator variables in moderator analyses through meta-regression. The effect sizes of the included studies were compared based on the type of intervention. The results showed that the aggregated effect size for all included interventions was significant, computed as g = 0.14, p < 0.01, 95% confidence interval [0.06, 0.21]. The effect size is considered small, based on Cohen's (1992) guidelines. The results of the meta-regression showed that the effectiveness of the included psychological interventions on social adjustment was not moderated by either the number of sessions (b = 0.006 p = 0.035) or age (b = –0.008, p = 0.59). Furthermore, there were no significant differences between different therapeutic approaches (Q = 7.37, df (Q) = 6; p = 0.28). This meta-analysis demonstrates that mental-health interventions in young refugees mildly improve their social adjustment. Due to the importance of social adjustment in refugees, we suggest that existing interventions place greater specific focus on improving social adjustment. The details of implications for future studies are discussed.