Feasibility of group theraplay with refugee children in Turkey

Abstract

According to the definition of the Refugee Convention, a refugee is 'someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion' (UN General Assembly, 1951). It is well established that refugees, including children, have high prevalence rates of mental health problems (Cayabyab, O'Reilly, Murphy, & O'Gorman, 2020). These include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and behavioural problems (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011). Without intervention, these child mental health problems are likely to continue, especially when compounded by post-migration stressors (Tam, Houlihan, & Melendez-Torres, 2015). The majority of mental health studies have been carried out with children seeking asylum or being resettled in high-income countries (HIC-Fazel & Betancourt, 2018), despite the fact that the greatest proportion of refugees are resettled in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC-UNHCR, 2018). This particularly applies to the population influx from Syria in recent years (Javanbakht, Rosenberg, Haddad, & Arfken, 2018). Child mental health problems are associated with a range of risk factors pre-, during and post-migration (Reed, Fazel, Jones, Panter-Brick, & Stein, 2012). Whilst earlier research predominantly focused on the impact of war-induced trauma, hence research on trauma-reprocessing interventions, more recently, there has been increasing attention on post-migration risk factors whilst children settle into their host communities (Eruyar, Huemer, & Vostanis, 2017). These factors include poverty, parenting and family functioning, parental mental health, cultural and language barriers, peer relationships, school and community exclusion (Bronstein & Montgomery, 2011; Reed et al., 2012). Likewise in the general population, individual factors were also found to be important in explaining mental health problems of refugee children. Older age, being female, biological predisposition and maladaptive

Impact of group theraplay on the social–emotional assets and resilience in children with hearing loss.

“…Similarly, Lenton (2020) reported that GT had a positive impact on behavioral difficulties in children. The result of the present study was similar to the research findings of Eruyar and Vostanis (2020), who demonstrated that the GT had a significant improvement on post-traumatic stress and attachment relationships in children. The finding of this research was similar to the research results of Orduña (2018) who revealed that GT had a significant and positive effect on the socio-emotional competence, social interactions, and pro-social behaviors of children with developmental disabilities.…”

“…Lenton (2020) concluded that GT had a considerable impact on the behavioral difficulties in children who have experienced complex trauma. Eruyar and Vostanis (2020) demonstrated that the GT had a significant improvement on post-traumatic stress, mental health, and attachment relationships in children. Ray et al (2020) highlighted that children who experienced more unpleasant experiences in childhood have lower social and emotional abilities and more behavioral problems.…”

Protecting Refugee Students’ Wellbeing After Research

“…Such children lack a strategy to continue a secure expectation (Stauffer, 2008). They develop strong feelings of being let down and can become suspicious of strangers (Eruyar & Vosyanis, 2020). Thus, participants were trying to find a secure connection with an adult figure but appeared to feel their strategy was not effective.…”

The effectiveness of therapeutic interventions on psychological distress in refugee children: A systematic review

“…Play therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to help children explore, and express their repressed thoughts/emotions through play. A group pre-post-test study by Eruyar and Vostania (2020) assessed the effectiveness of Theraplay (a form of play therapy aimed at strengthening attachment between parents and children) in a sample of children aged 8-14 years.…”