The resilience of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

Maragel, Michel; Manachi, Sandra

doi:10.4324/9781351169325-4

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…A cumulate global score ranging from 28 to 140 may be used, with high scores on the cumulate index indicating greater potential for resilience. Given that there were no validated standard Arabic versions of the instrument available in the existing literature, the items were translated and culturally adapted following the back-translation method (Brislin, 1981) by a group of Lebanese research psychologists employed by the NGO, Himaya, who had conducted a similar study with Syrian refugees in the Lebanon (Maragel & Manachi, 2018). In the present study, the reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha;Cronbach, 1951) for the global score was α = 0.832.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

2021

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The ongoing war in Syria has led to the displacement of 12 million people since 2011, with minors representing 40% of all refugees. Syrian children living in refugee camps are at risk of developing a wide range of mental health problems, given their previous and ongoing exposure to episodes of violence, disruption of family ties, and discontinuous access to education. In this study, we drew on the salutogenic paradigm to investigate whether, and to what extent, high/low levels of resilience were associated with other indicators of mental health and post-traumatic response in Syrian children living in refugee camps. The sample was composed of 311 Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps as a consequence of the war in Syria. We administered quantitative self-report measures to assess participants’ exposure to trauma, individual levels of resilience, and mental health, performing discriminant analysis to examine the association between resilience and trauma/mental health. Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps reported intense exposure to traumatic events. The linear discriminant equation supported adoption of the function [Wilk’s Lambda (Λ = 0.827)]: lower levels of resilience were associated with trauma symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal) and emotional problems, while higher levels of resilience were associated with pro-social behaviours. The findings of the present study suggest that resilience acts as a protective factor buffering children from the consequences of trauma and challenging life conditions. We discuss the implications for interventions designed to promote the wellbeing and mental health of children living in refugee camps.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

2021

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“…In children’s narratives their relationship with their parents was most important (i.e. Maragel & Manachi, 2018). Their dependency on their parent’s capacity to protect them was evident in their utterances (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family bonds in the midst of adversity: Insights into refugee children’s coping ways

Grigoropoulos

2020

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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This study explored refugee children’s ways of coping focusing on their strengths. The present study involved 26 students, 8 Iraqi Kurds, 6 Afghans, and 12 from Syria attending reception classes (called early morning reception zone) in the morning program of two Greek Elementary schools. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews. This study using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) explored the subjective narratives of the participating refugee children. Three superordinate themes relating to the aims of the current research emerged from the data: (1) caring relationships, (2) a place of (and for) safety and (3) new perspectives. Supportive family bonds, being securely resettled with other family members, security of housing and opportunities to study in a supportive school environment were found to be factors which either reduced significant stressors or ameliorated the effects of adverse childhood experiences as regards this study’s participants.

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“…Exposure to war and forced displacement are significant traumata that can severely disrupt the development of refugee children (Maragel & Manachi, 2018; Pieloch et al, 2016). However, not all children will respond equivalently to such atypical stressors due to interindividual differences in each child’s resilience and the resilience of the systems in which they are embedded (e.g., family, societal, political, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of particular concern are the rising frequency of climate disasters and armed conflict (Masten, 2021), generating a substantial global refugee population, an alarming proportion of which are children (Murray, 2019). The Syrian civil war, for example, has been waged over the past 12 years, forcing over five million Syrian residents, of which approximately 50% are below the age of 18 (Maragel & Manachi, 2018), to flee to neighboring countries. As an interim measure, many refugees are housed within informal tented settlements, but these can be variably beset by issues of overcrowding, limited food security, poor hygiene, and reduced access to education and jobs (Kazour et al, 2017; Murray, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk and resilience in Syrian refugee children: A multisystem analysis

Smeeth,

May,

Karam

et al. 2023

Dev Psychopathol

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Refugee children are often exposed to substantial trauma, placing them at increased risk for mental illness. However, this risk can be mitigated by a capacity for resilience, conferred from multiple ecological systems (e.g., family, community), including at an individual biological level. We examined the ability of hair cortisol concentrations and polygenic scores for mental health to predict risk and resilience in a sample of Syrian refugee children (n = 1359). Children were categorized as either at-risk or resilient depending on clinical thresholds for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and externalizing behavior problems. Logistic regression was used to examine main and interacting effects while controlling for covariates. Elevated hair cortisol concentrations were significantly associated with reduced resilience (odds ratio (OR)=0.58, 95%CI [0.40, 0.83]) while controlling for levels of war exposure. Polygenic scores for depression, self-harm, and neuroticism were not found to have any significant main effects. However, a significant interaction emerged between hair cortisol and polygenic scores for depression (OR=0.04, 95%CI [0.003 0.47]), suggesting that children predisposed to depression were more at risk for mental health problems when hair cortisol concentrations were high. Our results suggest that biomarkers (separately and in combination) might support early identification of refugee children at risk for mental health problems.

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The resilience of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

Cited by 6 publications

References 1 publication

Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

Family bonds in the midst of adversity: Insights into refugee children’s coping ways

Risk and resilience in Syrian refugee children: A multisystem analysis

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