Does parent’s psychological distress mediate the relationship between war trauma and psychosocial adjustment in children?

Khamis, Vivian

doi:10.1177/1359105314553962

Cited by 29 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Additionally, the majority of research in this area has not investigated the longitudinal trajectories of parental PTSD symptoms, leaving open the question of how the prospective course of PTSD symptoms may be associated with child adjustment. Child outcomes might be particularly unfavorable when both parents endorse greater levels of PTSD symptoms as Lambert et al (2014) found that both maternal and paternal PTSD was an important factor in child psychological adjustment.…”

Section: Parental Ptsd and Child Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental trajectories of PTSD and child adjustment: Findings from the Building a New Life in Australia study.

Reid

Berle

2020

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

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Aims. Evidence suggests that the psychosocial adjustment of children of refugees may be compromised when a parent has symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We sought to determine whether trajectories of parental PTSD symptoms might relate to child adjustment and whether there is an additive effect when both, as opposed to just one parent, has prominent PTSD symptoms. Method. We report data from the first three years of a prospective study of recent Australian humanitarian migrants: the Building a New Life in Australia study. Parental PTSD symptoms were assessed on three occasions and Latent Class Growth Analysis was used to identify homogenous groups of parents based on their PTSD symptoms. The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire was administered to assess child psychosocial adjustment. Regression analyses were then conducted to determine whether trajectories of parental PTSD symptoms predicted child adjustment. Results. After controlling for child age and gender, the presence of either one or both parents with persistently high PTSD symptoms was associated with children having greater emotional difficulties and poorer overall psychosocial adjustment. Children with both parents with persistently high PTSD had higher levels of emotional difficulties than children with a single parent with high PTSD symptoms. Conclusion. For emotional difficulties, though not other domains of child psychosocial adjustment, there indeed appears to be an "additive" impact of having two, rather than just one parent with persistently high PTSD symptoms, although the magnitude of these effects was small. The clinical and service provision implications of these findings are discussed.

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Section: Parental Ptsd and Child Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental trajectories of PTSD and child adjustment: Findings from the Building a New Life in Australia study.

Reid

Berle

2020

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

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“…Regional research by Khamis (Khamis, ) on parental behaviour, showed that parents' psychological distress mediated and moderated the relationship between war trauma and emotional and behavioural disorders in children living in the State of Palestine (United Nations, General Assembly, ). Perceived parental support was found to moderate the relationship between traumatic experiences and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in children aged 7–18 (A.…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Caregiving for children through conflict and displacement: a pilot study testing the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a light touch parenting intervention for caregivers in the West Bank

et al. 2019

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A child's adjustment to wartime stress is reliant not only on individual responses and qualities, but very significantly on the availability of support that they may receive from their parent or caregivers and quality of relationships. Strengthening parental support has the potential to be valuable. A pilot two‐arm randomised controlled trial investigated the feasibility of delivering and evaluating the “Caring for Children Through Conflict and Displacement” intervention with caregivers in the West Bank. Feasibility to recruit and train non‐specialist staff on‐the‐ground to screen families for eligibility, collect outcome data, deliver the intervention and to recruit and retain families in the study were examined. Research staff and intervention facilitators were successfully appointed in the field, screened participants and delivered the intervention to 120 caregivers, collecting outcome measures pre‐and post‐delivery. All families completed the outcome measures, with very little missing data. This indicated that the intervention can be delivered feasibly and evaluated with families in this humanitarian context. Preliminary outcome data showed promise that the intervention may have the potential to both improve family functioning and reduce children's problem behaviour. Implications of family‐focused initiatives, particularly within a conflict/post‐conflict context for the prevention of several negative health and social outcomes directions, are discussed.

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“…Highly stressed and anxious caregivers are significantly more likely to have children with insecure attachments, which pose a risk for subsequent difficulties in children's self-regulation, interpersonal relationships, and future academic achievement (12)(13)(14)(15). The linkages among parental stress, compromised parenting, and child mental health and psychosocial difficulties have been welldocumented in studies of diverse refugee communities (6,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), including Syrian refugees in Lebanon (17,21), the target population in the present study.…”

Section: Background and Rationalementioning

confidence: 73%

Protocol for a Randomized Control Trial of the Caregiver Support Intervention with Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Miller

Arnous

Tossyeh

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background There is evidence that chronic stress negatively impacts parenting among refugees and other war-affected communities. Persistent parental stress and distress may lead to unresponsive, anxious, or overly harsh parenting and a corresponding increase in emotional and behaviour problems among children. Most parenting interventions emphasize the acquisition of knowledge and skills; however, this overlooks the deleterious effects of chronic stress on parenting. The Caregiver Support Intervention (CSI) aims to strengthen quality of parenting skills by lowering stress and improving psychosocial wellbeing among refugee caregivers of children aged 3-12, while also increasing knowledge and skills related to positive parenting. The CSI is a 9-session psychosocial group intervention delivered by non-specialist providers. It is intended for all adult primary caregivers of children in high-adversity communities, rather than specifically targeting caregivers already showing signs of elevated distress. Methods The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the CSI through a parallel group randomized controlled study with Syrian refugee families in North Lebanon. Participants will be primary caregivers of children ages 3-12, with one index child per family. Families will be randomized to the CSI or a waitlist control group. A total of 240 families (480 caregivers) will be recruited into the study. Randomization will be at the family level, and CSI groups will be held separately for women and men. The study will be implemented in two waves. Outcomes for both arms will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at a three-month follow-up. The primary outcome is quality of parenting skills. Secondary outcomes include parental warmth and sensitivity, harsh parenting, parenting knowledge, and child psychosocial wellbeing. Putative mediators of the CSI on parenting are caregiver stress, distress, psychosocial wellbeing, and stress management. Discussion This trial may establish the Caregiver Support Intervention as an effective intervention for strengthening parenting in families living in settings of high adversity, particularly refugee communities. Trial registration: The trial has been registered with the International Society for the Registration of Clinical Trials. Trial Registration: ISRCTN22321773.

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Does parent’s psychological distress mediate the relationship between war trauma and psychosocial adjustment in children?

Cited by 29 publications

References 45 publications

Parental trajectories of PTSD and child adjustment: Findings from the Building a New Life in Australia study.

Parental trajectories of PTSD and child adjustment: Findings from the Building a New Life in Australia study.

Caregiving for children through conflict and displacement: a pilot study testing the feasibility of delivering and evaluating a light touch parenting intervention for caregivers in the West Bank

Protocol for a Randomized Control Trial of the Caregiver Support Intervention with Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

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