Peer-reviewed article
Child labor, sex and mental health outcomes amongst adolescent refugees
Sarah Rachel Meyer, Gary Yu, Eliana Rieders, Lindsay Stark ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed 470 South Sudanese adolescent refugees aged 13-17 in two Ugandan refugee settlements to examine the relationship between child labor and mental health. The researchers found that 71% of adolescents participated in some form of child labor, with 37% engaged in significant child labor. Adolescents doing significant child labor were over four times more likely to experience depression than those not working, though anxiety outcomes differed by sex.
Key points
- 71% of adolescents in the two refugee settlements engaged in any form of child labor (332 of 470)
- 37% were classified as engaging in significant child labor and 34% in moderate child labor
- Adolescents exposed to significant child labor had 4.15 times higher odds of depression compared to those with no child labor exposure
- For anxiety, girls exposed to significant child labor were less likely to report higher anxiety levels (OR: 0.29)
- Child labor protection is identified as an overlooked area in humanitarian and refugee settings
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot establish causal relationships between child labor and mental health outcomes. The study does not provide information about the specific types of child labor, the intensity or duration of work, or longer-term mental health trajectories.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Refugee adolescents living in camps and settlements in low and middle-income countries are a vulnerable population who face protection and psychosocial risks. This study explores prevalence of child labor amongst adolescent refugees from South Sudan in two refugee settlements in Uganda, to understand impacts of child labor on mental health outcomes, and examines the influence of sex on these impacts. METHODS: Surveys were conducted in Adjumani and Kiryandongo refugee settlements, Uganda, with 470 adolescents between 13 and 17 interviewed between December 2014-February 2015. Univariate finite mixture modeling identified a two-cluster model of child labor. Logistic regression models assessed the association of child labor and mental health. RESULTS: A two-cluster solution for child labor activity was determined among the 332 adolescents who self-reported engaging in any child labor (Significant child labor: n = 174, 37%; moderate child labor cluster: n = 158, 34%; no child labor cluster: n = 138, 29%. Odds of depression amongst adolescents exposed to significant vs. no child labor was 4.15 (95% CI: 2.01-8.56), in a model examining interaction of sex and child labor and controlling for socio-demographic variables. For the anxiety outcome, girls exposed to significant vs. no child labor are less likely to report higher levels of anxiety (OR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09-0.90). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents living in refugee settlements in Uganda report high levels of participation in child labor. Protection of adolescents from the risks involved with child labor in refugee contexts is an important and often over-looked area of child protection in humanitarian settings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- None - this is an observational study examining the relationship between existing child labor exposure and mental health outcomes
- Population
- 470 South Sudanese adolescents aged 13-17 in Adjumani and Kiryandongo refugee settlements, Uganda
Key finding
Odds of depression amongst adolescents exposed to significant vs. no child labor was 4.15 (95% CI: 2.01-8.56)