title: Scholastic achievement of adolescent refugees from Cambodia and Central America.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship of emotional disturbance and pre- and postmigration environment to the scholastic achievement of adolescent refugees of very different cultural backgrounds. One hundred fifty-two Central American and Cambodian students in six Canadian high schools, as well as their parents, were interviewed to assess the students' emotional problems (using the Youth Self-Report and Child Behavior Checklist) and to determine the pre- and postmigration family environment. The findings indicated that the relationship between the emotional problems and scholastic achievement of teenaged refugees was tenuous. It was concluded that a connection between young refugees' symptomatology and their functional capacity should not be assumed. Nonetheless, certain pre- and postmigration variables, particularly trauma experienced in the homeland, seem to be associated with the academic achievement of some refugees.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Montreal Children's Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Drapeau
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002160:Cambodia; D002489:Central America; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*