Examining the effectiveness of a group hope intervention program in Syrian refugee children: A pilot study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 6-session hope-based intervention program on the levels of hope and psychological resilience of Syrian refugee children. The pre-test post-test control group design was implemented. A total of 42 Syrian refugee students in 5th grade participated in the study. 2 × 2 mixed ANOVA, independent sample t-test, and dependent sample t-test were conducted for data analysis. Mixed ANOVA revealed that the intervention group had more improvement in hope and psychological resilience scores compared to the control group. Dependent sample t-test revealed that while the hope and resilience scores of the intervention group were maintained, the hope scores of the control group significantly decreased. Independent sample t-test revealed a statistically significant difference between the post-test hope scores of the groups. Research findings supported that hope-oriented approaches can be effective in improving the resilience of Syrian refugee children in the long term.