Mental health problems of Syrian refugee children: the role of parental factors

• Published in: European child & adolescent psychiatry Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 401 - 409
• Main Authors: Eruyar, Seyda, Maltby, John, Vostanis, Panos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavior problems; Child & adolescent mental health; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Children; Comorbidity; Conduct disorder; Cross-sectional studies; Emotional behavior; Families & family life; Health needs; Health problems; Intervention; Life events; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mental health services; Original Contribution; Parental stress; Parents & parenting; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychiatry; Psychological trauma; Psychopathology; Questionnaires; Refugees; Stress; Trauma; Refugee; Parent; Trauma; Child; Mental health
• ISSN: 1018-8827; 1435-165X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00787-017-1101-0

War-torn children are particularly vulnerable through direct trauma exposure as well through their parents’ responses. This study thus investigated the association between trauma exposure and children’s mental health, and the contribution of parent-related factors in this association. A cross-sectional study with 263 Syrian refugee children-parent dyads was conducted in Turkey. The Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (SLE), General Health Questionnaire, Parenting Stress Inventory (PSI-SF), Impact of Events Scale for Children (CRIES-8), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to measure trauma exposure, parental psychopathology, parenting-related stress, children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and mental health problems, respectively. Trauma exposure significantly accounted for unique variance in children’s PTSS scores. Parental psychopathology significantly contributed in predicting children’s general mental health, as well as emotional and conduct problems, after controlling for trauma variables. Interventions need to be tailored to refugee families’ mental health needs. Trauma-focused interventions should be applied with children with PTSD; whilst family-based approaches targeting parents’ mental health and parenting-related stress should be used in conjunction with individual interventions to improve children’s comorbid emotional and behavioural problems.