Individual Differences in Risk and Resilience in Refugee Children

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Currently, there are approximately 13 million refugee children worldwide. These children have had different experiences of war and displacement across a broad range of contexts. Consequently, studies of refugee children’s physical and mental health report varied outcomes. To understand the specific needs of refugee children, it is important to investigate their health across multiple dimensions and identify the factors that impact it, taking into account individual experiences and contexts. This symposium addresses individual differences in physical and psychological difficulties experienced by refugee children located in three different countries (Germany, Turkey, and Lebanon), and identifies predictors of these outcomes. The first paper reports data comparing a large sample of refugee children with migrant and host-country counterparts in Germany. They show discrepancies between parents’ subjective reports of their children’s health problems and actual diagnoses. The second paper reports prevalence estimates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety in a sample of Syrian refugee children in Istanbul, and identifies demographic and social factors associated with these outcomes. The third paper combines mental health outcomes and reported war exposure over two time points to operationalise resilience in a sample of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. Several individual and social predictors of resilience are identified. Together, these papers highlight the needs of three specific refugee populations, and associated risk and resilience factors. Findings across the three studies emphasise the relationship between physical and mental health, provide insight into refugee children’s health, and point towards possible targets for resilience-promoting interventions to be explored in further research.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: Refugee Children

Chair

• Cassandra Popham, Queen Mary University of London

Discussant

• Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Individual Presentations

• Health and Resilience of Refugee Children in Germany Following the 2015 Migration Crisis - Presenting Author: Hannes Kröger, German Institue for Economic Research (DIW)

• Prevalence of Common Mental Disorders Among Syrian Refugee Children and Adolescents in Sultanbeyli District, Istanbul - Presenting Author: Nathaniel Scherer, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Non-Presenting Author: Shaffa Hameed, International Centre for Evidence in Disability; Non-Presenting Author: Ceren Acartürk, Koc University, Istanbul; Non-Presenting Author: Gülten Deniz, Mülteciler Derneği; Non-Presenting Author: Ahmad Sheikhani, Relief International; Non-Presenting Author: Selin Volkan, Relief International; Non-Presenting Author: Ahmed Örücü, Mülteciler Derneği; Non-Presenting Author: Isotta Pivato, Relief International; Non-Presenting Author: İbrahim Akıncı, Mülteciler Derneği; Non-Presenting Author: Andrea Patterson, Relief International; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah Polack, International Centre for Evidence in Disability

• Predictors of Psychological Risk and Resilience Over Time Among Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon - Presenting Author: Cassandra Popham, Queen Mary University of London; Non-Presenting Author: Fiona S McEwen, Queen Mary University of London; Non-Presenting Author: Elie Karam, Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care; Non-Presenting Author: John Fayyad, Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care; Non-Presenting Author: Georges Karam, Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care; Non-Presenting Author: Dahlia Saab, Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care; Non-Presenting Author: Patricia Moghames, Médecins du Monde, Lebanon; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Pluess, Queen Mary University of London