Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity

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 c...

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Autores principales:	Ruth Speidel, Emma Galarneau, Danah Elsayed, Shahdah Mahhouk, Joanne Filippelli, Tyler Colasante, Tina Malti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	refugee children adverse life experiences social–emotional development mental health internalizing symptoms externalizing symptoms Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/674d52d2fa98445fb823475e6901dd19
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:674d52d2fa98445fb823475e6901dd192021-11-25T17:51:46ZRefugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity10.3390/ijerph1822121801660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/674d52d2fa98445fb823475e6901dd192021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/12180https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601Refugee 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 <i>N</i> = 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.Ruth SpeidelEmma GalarneauDanah ElsayedShahdah MahhoukJoanne FilippelliTyler ColasanteTina MaltiMDPI AGarticlerefugee childrenadverse life experiencessocial–emotional developmentmental healthinternalizing symptomsexternalizing symptomsMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 12180, p 12180 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	refugee children adverse life experiences social–emotional development mental health internalizing symptoms externalizing symptoms Medicine R
spellingShingle	refugee children adverse life experiences social–emotional development mental health internalizing symptoms externalizing symptoms Medicine R Ruth Speidel Emma Galarneau Danah Elsayed Shahdah Mahhouk Joanne Filippelli Tyler Colasante Tina Malti Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
description	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 <i>N</i> = 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.
format	article
author	Ruth Speidel Emma Galarneau Danah Elsayed Shahdah Mahhouk Joanne Filippelli Tyler Colasante Tina Malti
author_facet	Ruth Speidel Emma Galarneau Danah Elsayed Shahdah Mahhouk Joanne Filippelli Tyler Colasante Tina Malti
author_sort	Ruth Speidel
title	Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
title_short	Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
title_full	Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
title_fullStr	Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
title_full_unstemmed	Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity
title_sort	refugee children’s social–emotional capacities: links to mental health upon resettlement and buffering effects on pre-migratory adversity
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/674d52d2fa98445fb823475e6901dd19
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Refugee Children’s Social–Emotional Capacities: Links to Mental Health upon Resettlement and Buffering Effects on Pre-Migratory Adversity

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