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.
Highlights
Introduction iationsBy the end of 2020, over 82 million people had been forcibly displaced across the globe, 42% of whom were children in sensitive stages of development [1]
Higher child emotion regulation and optimism were associated with lower child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, higher sympathy was associated with lower externalizing symptoms, and higher trust was associated with higher internalizing symptoms
The correlation results among the four social–emotional capacities suggest that these constructs reflect interrelated yet distinct dimensions of social–emotional development in refugee children
Summary
Introduction iationsBy the end of 2020, over 82 million people had been forcibly displaced across the globe, 42% of whom were children in sensitive stages of development [1]. The refugee crisis is stark in Syria, where political violence, starvation, and other dangers have forced more than half of Syria’s pre-war population to flee since 2011 [1]. Prior to their resettlement, refugee children and families often experience severe adversity (e.g., exposure to war-related violence, family separation) that puts them at risk for elevated emotional and behavioral maladjustment [2]. A better understanding of the factors that facilitate mental health upon resettlement and guard against the effects of pre-migratory adversity is critical to inform translational intervention efforts aimed at supporting refugee children’s mental health and positive development
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