Refugee Children In Turkey Research Articles

Child growth and refugee status: evidence from Syrian migrants in Turkey

Abstract This study examines disparities in health and nutrition among native and Syrian refugee children in Turkey. To understand the need for targeted programs addressing child well-being among the refugee population, we analyze the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) – which provides representative data for a large refugee and native population. We find no evidence of a difference in infant or child mortality between refugee children born in Turkey and native children. However, refugee infants born in Turkey have lower birthweight and age-adjusted weight and height than native infants. When we account for a rich set of birth and socioeconomic characteristics that display substantial differences between natives and refugees, the gaps in birthweight and age-adjusted height persist, but the gap in age-adjusted weight disappears. Moreover, the remaining gaps in birthweight and anthropometric outcomes are limited to the lower end of the distribution. The observed gaps are even larger for refugee infants born before migrating to Turkey, suggesting that the remaining deficits reflect conditions in the source country before migration rather than deficits in access to health services within Turkey. Finally, comparing children by the country of their first trimester, we find evidence of the detrimental effects of stress exposure during pregnancy.

Process of co‐production of mental health service plans for refugee children in Turkey

AbstractRefugee children and young people have high levels of unmet mental health needs. A trauma‐informed service transformation framework was applied with 14 professionals in Turkey. Through participatory focus groups, professionals co‐produced service plans and considered enabling and challenging factors for implementation. Data were analysed through a thematic codebook approach. Established themes suggested that implementation should concurrently address societal barriers, agency fragmentation, lack of contextual interventions and sustainability. These led to the development of a Theory of Change. A trauma‐informed and scaled service model of collaborative care can holistically meet refugee children and young people's complex needs, while maximising sparse resources.

School integration of Syrian refugee children in Turkey

There is little evidence based on large-scale representative data on the school integration of refugee children—many of whom live in low- or middle-income countries. This study focuses on Syrian refugee children in Turkey and examines the underlying causes of native–refugee differences in school enrollment using the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey. Accounting for a rich set of socioeconomic variables, we find that the native–refugee gap in school enrollment drops by half for boys and two-thirds for girls, but a gap persists for both genders. When we restrict the sample to refugees who arrived in Turkey at or before age eight and account for socioeconomic differences, the native–refugee gap completely vanishes for both boys and girls, indicating that school integration of refugee children (at least up to the ages we observe them in the data) has been possible for early arrivers. We also find that the timing of boys’ school dropouts coincides with their entry into the labor market, whereas girls’ dropouts mostly occur before marriage age. Finally, after accounting for socioeconomic differences, refugee children are likelier never to start school, less likely to progress grade levels, and have a lower grade for age.

Evaluation of Leukemia and Solid Tumors in Refugee Children in Turkey: A Tertiary Center Experience

Cancer care is progressively became as a significant worldwide challenge. Wars can cause destructions and delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment of displaced people. Cancer cure rates need to be improved in indefensible populations such as refugees. In this study, we purposed to highlight the clinical peculiarities and outcomes of refugee children with cancer in our hospital. Our purpose was to present our findings and contribute to improve the health care for these children. Seventy one refugee pediatric patients admitted to the oncology and hematology units of our hospital between April 2011 and January 2019 were included in this study. The demographic characteristics of the patients at the initial diagnosis, their countries of origin, living conditions, histopathological diagnoses, treatments, relapse, and mortality data were analyzed retrospectively from the patient files. The median age of patients was 6.5±4.5 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 39/32. While 44 patients (61.9%) presented with complaints and had primary diagnoses in our hospital, the remaining 27 patients (38.1%) were diagnosed in their country and applied to our hospital for treatment. Our mean follow-up period was 18.2±18.8 months (1-90 months). As a result, 44 patients (62%) were alive and 22 (31%) were dead. The survival rate without relapse in the second year was 83.6%. Two and fiveyear survival rates were 77.5% vs. 58.1% respectively. Compared to Turkish children, lower survival rates were found in refugee children. In addition to cancer-specific factors such as tumor type and stage, some problems such as shelter, communication, adherence to treatment, and difficulties supplying medicine may be responsible for lower survival rates in refugee children. Further studies are needed to improve the survival rates of patients.

Breastfeeding status and determinants of current breastfeeding of Syrian refugee children in Turkey

BackgroundTurkey hosts the highest number of refugees in the World including 65% of Syrian refugees who reside in Turkey. Mothers and children were the most negatively affected among the Syrian refugees who had to migrate from their countries as a result of the civil war in Syria. One of the most important issues in terms of child health is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding in migrants should be promoted worldwide to mitigate infant mortality and diseases. The aim of this study is to examine the association between breastfeeding status in Syrian refugee children under two years and socio-demographic characteristics of Syrian refugee mothers with further analysis of Turkey Demographic and Health Survey-Syrian Migrant-2018 (TDHS-SM-2018) data. MethodsThe data source is the TDHS-SM-2018. Data for the last-born children with a gestational duration greater than 32 weeks from the mothers’ singleton pregnancy, aged less than two years old and living with the mother were included (unweighted n = 744). The dependent variable was the breastfeeding status (breastfeeding in the last 24 h during the study period) in children under two years. Complex sample logistic regression evaluated the associations.ResultsThe percentage of breastfeeding in children under the age of two years was found to be 62.4%, and the total median breastfeeding duration was 14.6 months. Univariate analysis showed that the earlier mothers immigrated to Turkey, the higher the current breastfeeding rate. Breastfeeding rates were found to be higher among people living in the South and East regions (65.2% and 65.1% respectively). Multivariable binary complex sample logistic regression revealed that breastfeeding status at the study period was associated with long preceding birth interval; delivery in a public hospital; absence of prelacteal feeding; being non-pregnant; and the region and age of the child. No relationship for current breastfeeding was found with maternal activities, maternal life satisfaction, financial satisfaction, and educational status.ConclusionCurrent breastfeeding in our sample was more likely among mothers with a longer birth interval who avoided prelacteal feeding. The Baby-Friendly approach and family planning services should be integrated into refugee health centers.

Corrigendum: Uncertainties shaping parental educational decisions: The case of Syrian refugee children in Turkey

The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.In the published article, the reference for [Dustron, 2019] was removed in author's proof. However, it still exists in the published article. The citation [Durston, 2019] and its reference [Durston, S., Duncalf, J., Alkassem, M., and Serdar, F. (2019). Evaluation of UNICEF's support to Education Personnel in the Syria Crisis Response in Turkey.] should be removed.PAGE \* Arabic \* MERGEFORMAT 3The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.In the published article, there was an error in Ethic Statement. In this way, it seems that the research protocol has been approved by an individual rather than a committee:The text appears as "The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Dr. Marijtje A.J. van Duijn Groningen University. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study."The correct statement should be as "The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Dr. Marijtje A.J. van Duijn, the head of the Research Ethics Committee at the Department of Sociology at University of Groningen. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study."

Küresel, Yerel, Mikrosistem ve Bireysel Faktörlerin Türkiye’deki Mülteci Çocukların Eğitim Süreçlerine Etkileri

In this study, a theoretical model framing the education processes of refugee children in Turkey is proposed. This model includes needs, risks, and opportunities, as well as the effects of various environments and actors in which refugee children are involved, on their educational experience. This model, which also focuses on the effects of global dynamics and local policies, has an integrative and developmental structure that allows new dimensions to be added. The method used in the study is secondary literature evaluation. Based on this method, this study synthesizes publications focusing on the various needs (psychological, cultural, and educational) of refugee children whose schooling rates are increasing day by day in Turkey, and on issues such as peer bullying, xenophobia, and trauma that these children face. Thus, the conditions of refugee children in their new environment and the cultural approach necessary for their successful adaptation to Turkey are described. The original model designed by the researcher has the claim to provide a framework for future research and practices in educational services to be provided to refugee children.

Uncertainties shaping parental educational decisions: The case of Syrian refugee children in Turkey

Around a million school-aged minors from Syria have been living in Turkey with temporary protection status over an unanticipated extended period. This prolonged temporariness leads to uncertainties and unpredictabilities for Syrian families regarding how long they will be staying in Turkey. Drawing on 17 interviews with Syrian mothers and 3 couples, this study examined the ways in which uncertainties shaped parental decisions on minors' education. The findings indicated that uncertainties played a key role in shaping the educational decisions of Syrian parents, particularly in their children's Turkish language acquisition and educational performance. This study not only fills the gap in understanding the effects of uncertainties in parental educational decisions emanated from a prolonged temporariness, but also argues that living in an uncertain context causes hurdles in language acquisition which has major educational and social consequences for children.

Issues in Education for Syrian Elementary Refugee Learners in Turkey: A Systematic Review

The provision of education for Syrian refugees is a major issue of concern for both the Turkish government and the population due to the immense number of refugees, the availability of resources and the complexity of the former’s educational needs. This review aims to synthesize the empirical quantitative and qualitative research, reports and literature related to the appropriateness of current educational practices catering for the educational needs of Syrian refugee children in Turkey, as well as the challenges facing these efforts. Related literature, previous studies and reports were systematically reviewed based on which a reflective analytical account of the actual educational practices and challenges were presented. Pertinent political, social & cultural aspects were further highlighted. By doing so, the researchers aim to determine which of the challenges are hindering the provision of education for refugee children based on the findings of related research. The results of the review indicated that most of the conducted research and reports have concluded that most of the educational practices dedicated to Syrian refugee children were far from being well constructed. The education provided was found to be remedial, spontaneous, reactional and of a tinkering nature. Therefore, a research gap was identified. It consists of the need to investigate other educational remedies to assist in tackling these challenges and to provide a more reliable and comprehensive education for emergencies to aid refugees in fighting back all forms of abuse and exploitation, as well as to facilitate the process of integration in host communities or repatriation to their motherland.

Syrian refugee children in Turkey and coronavirus disease 2019: A close-up view

Syrian refugee children in Turkey and coronavirus disease 2019: A close-up view

Group work training for mental health professionals working with Syrian refugee children in Turkey: a needs assessment study

ABSTRACT This study employed a grounded theory approach to understand group work training for mental health professionals (MHPs) working with Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Specifically, the authors set out to discover the barriers that prevent MHPs from conducting effective group work, elaborate on needed content and structure of the groups, highlight their potential benefits, and provide recommendations for conducting more effective group work to mitigate traumatic symptoms of Syrian refugee children. Interviews were conducted with 10 MHPs, including social workers (n = 4), psychologists (n = 5) and a psychiatrist (n = 1). Results revealed three themes including, i) Barriers for group work, ii) Benefits of group work, and iii) Recommendations for group work. Barriers included issues related to culture and language, access, intervention, organization and system-related barriers, and barriers stemming from ongoing trauma and abuse of Syrian refugee children, as well as secondary trauma of MHPs providing services. Benefits included MHPs’ perceived personal and interpersonal development skills, trauma resilience, and adjustment and adaptation for Syrian refugee children. Recommendations to mitigate the barriers for group work included the necessity of short term, cost-effective, ongoing crisis interventions that address stabilization and regulation of refugee children’s functioning. The study highlighted the importance of the effectiveness of interventions linked to qualifications of MHPs, designing group interventions that target the secondary trauma of MHPs, and the importance of psychosocial awareness interventions that aim to increase knowledge about refugee rights.

Mental health need and psychiatric service utilization patterns of refugee children in Turkey: A comparative study

ObjectiveTurkey is hosting three and a half million of refugee people from Syria and it is the leading refugee hosting country. Despite previous study findings indicating high rates of psychiatric morbidity among refugee children, little is known about the mental health service utilization patterns of refugee children in Turkey. We aimed to investigate psychiatric service utilization pattern and clinical profiles of refugee children and compare the findings with non-refugee children who applied to the same child psychiatry service in Istanbul. MethodWe determined sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnoses, and the number of visits among refugee children in comparison to non-refugees. Predictors of early dropout in refugees were analysed using logistic regression. ResultsOur sample comprised 91 refugee children (31.9% female, mean age = 9.02 years) and 82 non-refugees (34.1% female, mean age = 9.32 years). A broad range of war-related traumatic events was reported by the refugee children. The most prevalent traumatic events were hearing shootings or blasts (87.3%), witnessing clashes or bombardment (68.8%), and exposing to corpses or mutilated bodies (33.3%). Even though depression (28.6%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (22%) were more common among refugee children, ADHD (36.3% in refugee vs. 47.6% in non-refugee) was the most common disorder in both groups. Refugee children were attended fewer appointments for mental healthcare than non-refugee children (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the lower likelihood of early dropout from mental healthcare service were associated with having ADHD (OR 0.229, 95%C.I: 0.066–0.798) and PTSD (OR 0.125, 95%C.I:0.030–0.520) diagnoses in refugee group. ConclusionsOur findings highlighted that clinicians and service providers should be aware of refugees' complex mental health needs and social difficulties. To provide effective mental health services for refugee children, it is crucial to develop policies facilitating the access to the services and increasing the treatment adherence.

Adaptation of the Vancouver Index of Acculturation to Turkish and Arabic

Researching the acculturation processes of Syrian refugee children in Turkey is essential in terms of the mental health of both the host society and the migrant community. To this end, this study adapts to the Turkish and Arabic languages the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA), which has been developed as a bidimensional instrument assessing acculturation in the 11–18 age group. Data were collected from 957 Syrian refugee children as part of the present study. Analyses showed that the two-dimensional structure each consisting of 10 items and named identification with the heritage culture and identification with the mainstream culture in the original version was supported by both the Turkish version and Arabic version. In conclusion, construct, convergent and discriminant validity as well as composite and Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for the Turkish and Arabic forms of the 20-item VIA were determined to be sufficient.

The relationships among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency among teachers of Syrian refugee children in Turkey.

Within the provision of education, teachers typically have the closest contact and play a key role in meeting the needs of refugee children through effective communication to achieve culturally qualified education and the provision of more humanistic approach. This descriptive cross-sectional design study is aimed to explore the relationships among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency in teachers of Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Data were collected from 367 teachers of Syrian refugee children. Teachers of Syrian refugee children who participated in the study had a high level of psychological resilience, moderate level of empathic tendencies and a high level of intercultural sensitivity. Statistically significant relationships were found among study variables. The data reveal that there is a relationship among psychological resilience, intercultural sensitivity and empathetic tendency among teachers of Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that psychological resilience significantly supports intercultural sensitivity and empathic tendencies.

Education of Syrian Refugee Children in Turkey: Reflections From the Application

The goal of this research is to take a close look at the issue of immigration and education; views of 19 Turkish teachers who give education to Syrian refugee children in Turkey are analyzed for this purpose. It is attempted to determine the current problems in refugee education in Turkey and present solution suggestions. It is determined that the Turkish teachers didn’t receive any kind of proper training during university education and they received a two-week training before starting the education process. On the other hand, it is observed that gender is a significant determiner in the relations between Turkish and Syrian teachers in the education environment. According to the data, most of the students have violent behavioral disorders (ex. Bullying) and psychological problems; it is determined that it is highly important to support the emotional needs of students, especially the ones who witnessed violence acts back in Syria.

Feasibility of group theraplay with refugee children in Turkey

AbstractDespite the evidence on the role of parental factors, especially attachment relationships, in mediating complex trauma experienced by refugee children, there is limited evidence on the use of attachment‐based interventions. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of adapting such an intervention, group theraplay, for refugee children in Turkey. Fifteen child–parent dyads participated, and completed measures on attachment relationships, child mental health and parenting strategies. Children engaged with the intervention, whilst it proved more difficult to involve parents regularly. There was a significant improvement in children's post‐traumatic stress and other common mental health symptoms, as well as parent‐rated attachment relationship difficulties. Attachment‐based modalities using play, activities and games can be particularly useful for children and families with cultural and language challenges. Therapeutic interventions for refugee children and families should be integrated with other types of support within a multimodal service approach.

Vulnerabilities of Syrian refugee children in Turkey and actions taken for prevention and management in terms of health and wellbeing

BackgroundThe Syrian crisis, which started in March 2011, has resulted in the displacement of 6.3 million refugees predominantly to neighboring countries in addition to the internal displacement of 6.2 million people. Turkey is the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world with 3.6 million Syrian refugees 46 % of which are under 18 years old. ObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to conduct a narrative review and analyze the vulnerabilities of refugee children in Turkey from the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more specifically SDG Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, with a specific focus on Syrian refugee children. Moreover, this article explores the actions taken to prevent and mitigate issues that arise from these vulnerabilities. MethodThis narrative review article collected data from various primary and secondary sources on the Turkish refugee framework including national and international legislation, governmental and non-governmental data and reports, and scientific papers. ResultsSyrian refugee children in Turkey are facing a variety of risks in terms of their health and wellbeing including communicable and non-communicable diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, family violence, child labor, and child marriage. The measures taken for prevention and response by governmental and non-governmental entities are multilateral and aim to address issues from multiple perspectives including medical, psychosocial, child protection, and legal. ConclusionsThe interventions and restructuring of the health system in Turkey contribute to the SDG number 3 for refugee children. The existence of a legal system which enables refugee access to health, protection, and other social services is key to achieve this goal. However, the existing system could be improved especially through solidifying the legal basis and centralizing the implementation for child and refugee protection. The engagement of all stakeholders to improve the health and wellbeing of refugee children remains vital.

Integrating Syrian refugee children in Turkey: The role of Turkish language skills (A case study in Gaziantep)

This study discusses issues around the integration of Syrian refugee children into the Turkish school system by using the case study of a secondary school in the city of Gaziantep in the southeast of Turkey. Based on focus groups with teachers at the school who engage with the growing number of Syrian refugee children in their classrooms, this study highlights in particular the role of Turkish language skills in ensuring the integration of Syrian children in the Turkish educational system. The data obtained from the teachers illustrate the significant challenges they face given the lacking Turkish language competency of Syrian students. The study presents the solutions suggested by the teachers at the secondary school and their assessment of the success of the Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System (PICTES) (2016–2018) which was implemented to address the specific educational needs of Syrian refugee children. Using Paolo Freire's concept of the pedagogy of the oppressed as theoretical framework, the paper argues that while enhancing Turkish language competency is crucial, it will not be effective as long as the intervention programmes primarily focus on language. Such programmes also need to consider the emotional well-being and mental health of Syrian refugee children, who suffer from the repercussions of the traumatic experiences caused by civil war and displacement, and provide avenues for integrating their perspectives in the classroom and in the wider school community.

School anxiety and presenteeism in refugee children in Turkey

In this study, the first aim is to compare school anxiety and presenteeism levels in refugee and native Turkish children. A total of 200 elementary and middle school students who are enrolled in the Turkish public school were selected as the study group via a purposive sampling technique in different countries in Turkey. Not only refugee children were selected but also native children were included in the study. Their teachers filled in the School Anxiety Scale-Teacher Form and the School Presenteeism Scale-Teacher Form on the behalf of refugee and native children. Independent samples t-test, Pearson product-moments correlation analysis and simple linear regression analysis were performed for data analysis. In conclusion, statistically significant positive correlations between school anxiety and school presenteeism have been determined in all participants. In comparison analysis, refugee children have more presenteeism and school anxiety levels than native Turkish children.&#x0D; Keywords: Refugee, school anxiety, presenteeism.

Psychopathology and Associated Risk Factors Among Forcibly Displaced Syrian Children and Adolescents.

More than half of the 2.7million registered Syrian refugees in Turkey are under 18years of age. This study investigates prevalence of psychopathology and associated risk factors in refugee children in Turkey. Of a total of 218 children aged 9-15 years, 56.2% lost someone important to them, 55.1% saw dead or wounded people, 70.4% witnessed explosions or gun battles, 42.5% witnessed people being tortured and 25.6% personally experienced cruelty/torture during war. Prevalence of PTSD was 18.3% and that of anxiety-related disorders were as high as 69.0%. Death of an important person (p = .032) and male gender (p = .040) were associated with PTSD; whilst exposure to cruelty or torture (p = .014) and increasing duration of refuge (p = .042) were significantly associated with development of anxiety disorders. Findings of the present study reveals existence of the expected but unspoken mental health needs among the Syrian children in Turkey.