Dataset Information

Refugee Children's Social-Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity.

ABSTRACT: Refugee children who experience severe pre-migratory adversity often show varying levels of mental health upon resettlement. Thus, it is critical to identify the factors that explain which refugee children experience more vs. less healthy outcomes. The present study assessed child social-emotional capacities (i.e., emotion regulation, sympathy, optimism, and trust) as potential moderators of associations between child, parental, and familial pre-migratory adversities and child mental health (i.e., internalizing and externalizing symptoms) upon resettlement. Participants were N = 123 five- to 12-year-old Syrian refugee children and their mothers living in Canada. Children and mothers reported their pre-migratory adverse life experiences, and mothers reported their children's current social-emotional capacities, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing symptoms. Greater familial (i.e., the sum of children's and their mother's) pre-migratory adversity was associated with higher child internalizing and externalizing symptoms upon resettlement. Higher emotion regulation and optimism were associated with lower internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and higher sympathy was associated with lower externalizing symptoms. In contrast, higher trust was associated with higher internalizing symptoms. Finally, higher child optimism buffered against the positive association between familial pre-migratory adversity and child internalizing symptoms. In sum, select social-emotional capacities may serve as potential protective factors that support mental health and buffer against the deleterious effects of pre-migratory adversity in refugee children.

SUBMITTER: Speidel R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8618894 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceA better understanding of the psychosocial health of resettled child and adolescent refugees and associated premigration and postmigration factors may help this population integrate effectively.ObjectiveTo estimate the associations of premigration and postmigration multidomain factors with psychosocial health after resettlement among young refugees of different ages.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used wave 3 data from the Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA) cohort study, as they represented the first time a BNLA study included a child module targeting children and adolescents in the migrating unit as a nested component of the broader study. The study population consisted of children aged 5 to 10 years and adolescents aged 11 to 17 years. The caregivers of the children, the adolescents themselves, and the adolescents' caregivers were invited to complete the child module. Wave 3 data were collected from October 1, 2015, to February 29, 2016. Statistical analysis was performed from May 10 to September 21, 2022.ExposuresPremigration and postmigration multidomain factors, including individual (child and caregiver), family, school, and community levels, were measured.Main outcomes and measuresSocial and emotional adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were the dependent variables measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and an 8-item PTSD scale. Weighted multilevel linear or logistic regression models were used.ResultsOf the 220 children aged 5 to 10 years (mean [SD] age, 7.4 [2.0] years), 117 (53.2%) were boys; of the 412 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years (mean [SD] age, 14.1 [2.0] years), 215 (52.2%) were boys. Among the children, compared with no exposure, exposure to premigration traumatic events (β = 2.68 [95% CI, 0.51-4.85]) and having family conflicts after resettlement (β = 6.30 [95% CI, 2.97-9.64]) were positively associated with SDQ total difficulties score; school achievement was negatively associated with SDQ total difficulties score (β = -5.02 [95% CI, -9.17 to -0.87]). Among the adolescents, being treated unfairly (β = 3.32 [95% CI, 1.41-5.22]) and parenting harshness after resettlement (β = 0.25 [95% CI, 0.11-0.40]) were positively associated with SDQ total difficulties score; engagement in extracurricular activities (β = -3.67 [95% CI, -6.83 to -0.50]) was negatively associated with SDQ total difficulties score. Exposure to premigration traumatic events (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.49 [95% CI, 1.10-5.63]), being treated unfairly (aOR, 3.77 [95% CI, 1.60-8.91]), and facing English language barriers (aOR, 6.41 [95% CI, 1.98-20.79]) after resettlement were positively associated with the presence of PTSD.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study of refugee children and adolescents, apart from premigration traumatic experiences, several postmigration family- and school-related factors and social integration factors were associated with psychosocial health after resettlement. The findings suggest that family- and school-centered psychosocial care and social integration programs targeting related stressors merit increased attention for improving the psychosocial health of refugee children and adolescents after resettlement.

Dataset Information

Refugee Children's Social-Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets