Potentially traumatic events and mental health problems among children of Iraqi refugees: The roles of relationships with parents and feelings about school.

Abstract

This study examined mental health problems among children of Iraqi refugees, most of whom were Christian. Exposure to potentially traumatic events was hypothesized to predict more symptoms of depression and traumatic stress. Moreover, youth reports of supportive relationships with parents and positive feelings about school were examined in relation to mental health problems. These promotive factors were expected to mitigate the hypothesized association between traumatic event exposure and mental health problems. Participants were 211 youth recruited from agencies and programs serving Iraqi refugees in a large metropolitan area in the United States. The hypotheses were partially supported. Youth who reported experiencing more potentially traumatic events endorsed more traumatic stress and depression symptoms. After accounting for exposure to potentially traumatic events and other covariates, youth who reported more positive feelings about school endorsed fewer symptoms of traumatic stress, and youth who reported more supportive relationships with parents endorsed fewer symptoms of depression. In addition, there was an interaction between potentially traumatic events and relationships with parents when predicting depression symptoms. Youth endorsed higher levels of depression symptoms when they reported less supportive relationships, regardless of the amount of traumatic event exposure, whereas youth endorsed lower levels of depression symptoms when they reported more supportive relationships with parents, but only at low levels of traumatic event exposure. Otherwise, the main effects were not qualified by interactions between potentially traumatic event exposure and the promotive factors. The findings from this study have implications for future research, policy, and practice with children of refugees. (PsycINFO Database Record

Does multidisciplinary rehabilitation of tortured refugees represent ‘value-for-money’? A follow-up of a Danish case-study

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Culture's Influence on Stressors, Parental Socialization, and Developmental Processes in the Mental Health of Children of Immigrants

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Manifesto for new directions in developmental science

“…Our answer is that we need, more than ever, to address the lack of knowledge about the multiple and interdependent individual, social, and cultural factors that can enhance the well‐being of children growing up in highly vulnerable and rapidly changing contexts and situations. A good place to start may be by broadening the scope of research with migrant and refugee communities in order to explore how multiple personal and social assets influence developmental outcomes (e.g., Trentacosta, McLear, Ziadni, Lumley, & Arfken, 2016). Another critical direction is to study the differential impact of contextual shifts in people's lives according to their age, cognitive abilities, health, race/ethnicity, or social class.…”