The health effect of the Syrian conflict on IDPs and refugees.

Abstract

Syrian conflict and oppression caused extreme suffering for Syrians. They threatened the existence of Syrian identity and Syria’s territorial integrity. They caused more than half of Syria’s population to be internally displaced or become refugees. The goal of the current study was to assess the physical and mental health toll of Syrian experience, an intergroup trauma, on Syrians as individuals. A sample of 195 internally displaced and 111 Syrian refugees in the Nederland was administered measures of oppressive Syrian experience (SOE), cumulative stress and trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), postcumulative stress and trauma disorders (complex PTSD), and existential annihilation anxiety (EAA). Descriptive statistics showed high rates of PTSD, comorbidities, and suicidality. Internally displaced had significantly higher morbidity rates than refugees. Using path analysis, we tested a model where SOE, mediated by other interpersonal traumas, triggered EAA and affected severely their mental and physical health. The model fitted well. We tested the model’s structural invariance across genders and the 2 groups. While the model was configurally and metrically (conceptually) invariant across groups, it was not strongly or strictly invariant. We examined the dynamics behind their similarities and differences. We discussed the need to resolve the conflict and develop evidence-based interventions to help relieve their suffering.

Toxic stress and child refugees

“…It is also essential that pediatric healthcare practitioners working with child refugees recognize their significant risk for toxic stress and intervene early. Even in the most extreme cases of adversity, timely interventions to improve a child's environment can significantly better outcomes (Al Ibraheem et al., ; Dowd, ; Johnson et al., ). Individuals working with child refugees in particular have an unprecedented opportunity to integrate the state of the science related to toxic stress into their practice to afford these children the chance for a healthy and productive future.…”

“…However, it has been clearly established that the prolonged brutal and traumatizing war in Syria is having a profound impact on child refugees at a distressing rate. Millions of children have experienced extreme violence, bloodshed, unrelenting shelling and air strikes, witnessed torture, kidnappings and massacres, and observed the obliteration of homes and complete neighborhoods (Al Ibraheem, Kira, Aljakoub, & Al Ibraheem, ; Hadfield, Ostrowski, & Ungar, ; Save the Children, ). From December 2016 and February 2017, Save the Children () conducted interviews with 458 children ( n = 125), adolescents ( n = 154), and adults (e.g., parents, adult caretakers, social workers, teachers, etc.…”

The Perceptions of Trauma, Complaints, Somatization, and Coping Strategies among Syrian Refugees in Germany—A Qualitative Study of an At-Risk Population

“…Furthermore, symptoms that may indicate depression, such as sadness, diminished one's ability to concentrate. Insomnia or fatigue have also been reported frequently, which could be explained by the loss of one's family, social fabric, and home [25].…”

The Threshold Non-linear Model for the Effects of Cumulative Stressors and Traumas: A Chained Cusp Catastrophe Analysis

“…This might include the proliferation of childhood poly-victimization (Collings, Penning, & Valjee, 2014;Ford, Elhai, Connor, & Frueh, 2010). It may also include the proliferation of early adolescence systemic trauma such as discrimination leading to subsequent traumas (Al-Ibraheem, Kira, Aljakoub, & Al-Ibraheem, 2017;Kira, Alawneh, Aboumediene, Lewandowski, & Laddis, 2014;Szymanski & Balsam, 2011). The inclusion of social identity systemic traumas (collective identity traumas) that are continuous and intersecting, such as different discrimination and oppression (e.g., refugees, minority groups experience, gender discrimination), have been identified as severe trauma types that proliferate to subsequent traumas (Holmes, Facemire, and DaFonseca, 2016;Reisner et al, 2016;Kira et al, 2018a).…”