Development and achievement of aspirations among unaccompanied refugee minors

Many unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) struggle with mental health problems and resettlement. Since aspirations can inform and direct a person’s behaviours, understanding more about URMs’ aspirations may help us understand these struggles. This study explores URMs aspirations and whether mental health predicts achieved aspirations. Mental health data were gathered 6 months and 2 years after the youth’s arrival in their host country. Quantitative and qualitative data on their aspirations were gathered 5 years post arrival. Mental health did not predict achieved aspirations according to binary logistic regression analyses. The qualitative analysis indicated how most of the youth organized their aspirations hierarchically according to their needs, and how aspirations are culturally and socially embedded. We discuss how the youth are able to achieve their aspirations despite having mental health problems, the importance of agency and feeling safe, and how aspirations can be understood as dynamic and changing according to their experiences.