Mental health in migrant schoolchildren in Italy: teacher-reported behavior and emotional problems

Mental health of migrant children is becoming an important area of investigation due to the continued growth of migrant children in Italy. Actually, the migration process is cause of physical and social stressors that may lead to mental health problems, particularly in children. In Italy there are few studies about migrant children's mental health; thus the aim of this study is to compare the prevalence and types of emotional and behavioral problems in migrant schoolchildren to those of Italy-born children. The research involved migrant (first and second generation) and native schoolchildren attending kindergarten, primary and secondary school. A questionnaire was administrated to teachers to collect information about the family composition, the country of birth, the age on arrival in Italy, religion and integration state outside school. All teachers filled in the Teacher Self Report (TRS) for migrant and native children. The findings show that teachers detect the academic and adaptive problems more easily in migrant schoolchildren, but they probably are less aware of their psychological structure. The observations made in this study provide a starting point to understand the psychological structure and the main problems among migrant children, and underscore the importance of an early detection of these problems for appropriate intervention strategies.