How do Syrian refugee children in Turkey perceive relational factors in the context of their mental health?

Abstract

Although there has been increasing attention on the impact of risk and resilience factors on refugee children’s mental health, there has been limited evidence on the role of parental factors to inform interventions, and this predominantly relies on adult reports. The aim was to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and attachment relationships and child mental health, as reported by 322 Syrian refugee minors aged between 8 and 17 years in Turkey. Child-rated scales included the Children Revised Impact of Event Scale–8 (CRIES-8), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Security Scale and Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran for Children (EMBU-C), and were used as measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general mental health problems, attachment relationships and perceived parenting styles, respectively. Children with secure maternal and paternal attachment perceived their parents as less rejecting, while children with secure paternal attachment also reported their parents as emotionally warmer. Attachment relationships significantly contributed in predicting PTSD after controlling for age and gender, while conduct problems were predicted by lack of emotional warmth, rejection and over-protection by both parents, in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Refugee children’s views are essential in establishing their needs and planning interventions. These should address both the impact of trauma and current family relationships.

Annual Research Review: A multilevel bioecological analysis of factors influencing the mental health and psychosocial well‐being of refugee children

“…Family is a key source of social support for children. Evidence consistently supports the role of family ties as an asset and positive parent–child relationships as a source of strength, protection and security for children (Bermudez et al, 2018; Bettmann & Olson‐Morrison, 2018; Eruyar, Maltby, & Vostanis, 2020; Lauritzen & Sivertsen, 2012; McGregor et al, 2016; Nasıroğlu et al, 2018; Oppedal & Idsoe, 2015; Veronese & Castiglioni, 2015; Veronese et al, 2018; Veronese, Pepe, Jaradah, Murannak, et al, 2017; Zwi et al, 2018) Unaccompanied refugee children who have contact with their families living abroad perceive high levels of support and present with lower levels of depression, despite lack of physical contact and face‐to‐face communication with families (Eriksson & Rundgren, 2019; Jani, Underwood, & Ranweiler, 2016; Oppedal & Idsoe, 2015).…”

Feasibility of group theraplay with refugee children in Turkey

“…Syrian refugee children aged 8–14 years and their families were recruited through a non‐governmental organisation (NGO) located in Istanbul, Turkey. The research team had previously completed two studies on the role of parental and relational factors in the same setting (Eruyar, Maltby, & Vostanis, 2018; Eruyar et al., 2020). Gatekeeper agreement was obtained from the NGO manager.…”

“…Traumatic experiences and disrupted attachment relationships can hinder children's ability to regulate their emotions when feeling under threat (Salmon & Bryant, 2002). This association has been replicated in refugee families, based on both parental (van Ee, Kleber, Jongmans, Mooren, & Out, 2016) and child reports (Eruyar, Maltby, & Vostanis, 2020). Dalgaard, Todd, Daniel, and Montgomery (2016) proposed an interesting model that the intergenerational transmission of trauma may be associated with disruptions in children's attachment representations.…”

A Task-shifting and Family-focused Approach Towards Mental Health Care for Youth Living in Refugee Camps

“…This serves to identify barriers to mental health care, map human resource capacities of involved stakeholders and perceived needs and challenges related to service implementation (de Jong et al, 2015). Moreover, it entails a participatory approach involving childrens, families and communities views and perspectives in the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions (Alisic et al, 2020;Betancourt et al, 2015), facilitating the cultural adaptations of interventions by taking into account cultural concepts of parenting and mental health (Eruyar et al, 2020;Miller et al, 2020). In the Burundian context, for example, the local idioms akabonge, a set of depression-like symptoms, and ihahamuka, comprising PTSD-related reactions to traumatic experiences, have been described (Irankunda et al, 2017;Ventevogel et al, 2013).…”