Developmental Concerns in Children Coming to the United States as Refugees.

Nearly 80 million people are estimated to have been forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide. The magnitude is staggering, accounting for nearly 1 in 100 people alive today.1 Twenty-six million of these have crossed a national border and undergone formal registration processes to become refugees, defined as “someone who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him[or her]self of the protection of that country…”2 Children now account for almost one-half of all refugees worldwide, reaching an estimated 30 to 34 million displaced, and are, also, frequently affected by internal displacement, constituting >60% of internally displaced persons in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Burkina Faso.1 In addition to physical threats to their well-being,3 refugee children may face additional stress … Address correspondence to Rebecca J. Scharf, MD, MPH, Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics, University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, 1204 West Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22903. E-mail: rebeccascharf{at}virginia.edu