Editorial Perspective: How can we help the children of Ukraine and others affected by military conflict?

Abstract

Parents and caregivers play a key role in protecting children from the stresses of war. Their own experiences, changes they see in children in their care and the nature of the parenting they provide can have a profound effect on childrens' reactions. The adoption of a pyramid of resources from universally available psychoeducational materials to specialised forms of trauma‐informed interventions allows for screening and provision of appropriate levels of assistance. The importance of consideration of the family's context, the evidence base and the capacity of informal and professional networks to support caregiving is discussed. Resources available through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime are provided to share experiences of building a pyramid of interlinked, evidence‐based, trauma‐informed interventions which have been developed in collaboration with families and practitioners experiencing life through the contexts of military conflict, displacement and resettlement.

The role of faith in parenting; considerations when implementing family skills interventions with families affected by armed conflict or displacement

“…Making interventions available to families affected by conflict and displacement that help to develop the quality of parenting is now seen as an important component in the response to the care of war-affected children (28). This has caused a rise in parenting and family skills interventions for humanitarian and low resource contexts (29). Family skills interventions offer a combination of parenting knowledge, skill building, competency enhancement and support (30).…”

The epidemics of substance misuse and suicide in Syria: casualties of protracted conflict and political instability

“…[48] The development of the United Nations O ce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) multi-level family skills pyramid of open access resources, that includes a range of resources from light touch psychoeducational materials to more specialized forms of trauma-informed interventions, was presented as a means of both screening and provision of appropriate levels of assistance. [47] Furthermore, open-access family skills resources available at every level of this model were shared in English and Arabic. [49] It is important that all interventions are context speci c and culturally adapted and so it may be useful to engage with local community leaders and local religious leaders when implementing psychiatric interventions, especially considering the impact that social stigmatization may have on this speci c cohort of patients.…”

“…Primary caregivers experiencing high levels of stress are less likely to provide children with the various positive interactions that promote healthy psychosocial and physical development. [46,47] Instead, children are more likely to experience harsh parenting, which increases children's risk of a variety of enduring emotional and behavioural problems. This global trend of compromised caregiving through con ict has been highlighted too with research on con ict affected families in Syria, as well as contexts hosting Syrian refugees and in countries such as Ukraine.…”

Assessing the Efficacy of a Brief Universal Family Skills Programme on Violence and Substance-Use Indicators in Youth in Trentino and Parma, Italy: Study Protocol for a Multi-Centre, Non-Blinded, Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial (cRCT) of Family UNited

“…Nevertheless, such a universal approach does not necessarily mean that the package affects all families equivalently; but, the aim is always to mostly benefit those families facing higher levels of challenges. Individual cases with higher levels of problems will be identified by facilitators and referred to more tailored or individualised services [ 3 ].…”