The contributions of trauma exposure and perceived parenting practices in explaining the mental health problems among Syrian refugee children

There is a dearth of research showing the adverse effect of traumatic experiences on the mental health of refugee children. However, the evidence is scarce on the role of perceived parenting practices in the association... [ view full abstract ]

There is a dearth of research showing the adverse effect of traumatic experiences on the mental health of refugee children. However, the evidence is scarce on the role of perceived parenting practices in the association between trauma exposure and child’s psychological difficulties. In this study, thus, it was aimed to examine the contribution of perceived parenting practices, i.e. emotionally warm, rejecting  and over protective parenting, in explaining post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and behavioural problems among Syrian refugee children residing in Istanbul, Turkey, after controlling the effect of trauma exposure. A cross-sectional study with 322 Syrian children aged between 8 and 18 years was conducted using Stressful Life Events Scale (SLES), Children Impact of Events Scale (CRIES-8), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Child Rearing Styles (EMBU-C). Two respective hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the contribution of trauma and parental factors in explaining children’s PTSS and behavioural problems. The results indicate that trauma exposure significantly contributed in predicting children’s PTSS symptoms (ΔR=.050, p < .001); whilst adding perceived parenting practices to the regression did not result in a statistically significant change (ΔR=.022, p =.093). Conversely, trauma exposure did not predict children's behavioural problems (ΔR=.003, p =.330); whilst perceived parenting practices was found to be statistically significant in explaining it (ΔR=.20, p < .001). Furthermore, each of the emotionally warm, rejecting and overprotective parenting was accounted for unique variance in explaining the behavioural problems. To conclude, perceived parenting styles were found essential in terms of the behavioural problems; whilst trauma exposure resulted in PTSS among refugee children. These results can be integrated with mental health input in camps and help families who faced post-migratory difficulties by providing parenting support programs and by planning appropriate interventions to protect refugee children.