Difficulties in emotion regulation among Syrian refugee girls: Risk and protective factors.

Abstract

Exposure to war and forced migration have been widely linked to child subsequent adaptation. What remains sparse is research spanning multiple risk and protective factors and examining their unique, and relative implications to difficulties on emotion dysregulation in refugee girls. This study investigated the mechanisms through which emotion dysregulation in Syrian refugee girls is impacted by exposure to war traumas, comorbidities, and other risk and protective factors such as coping styles, family relationships, and school environment. The sample consisted of 539 Syrian refugee girls who ranged in age from 7 to 18 years attending public schools in various governorates in Lebanon and Jordan. Two school counselors carried out the interviews with children at school. Results indicated that war trauma and the combination of comorbidities associated with negative coping styles could lead to an overall state of emotion dysregulation in refugee girls. Enhanced understanding of the mechanistic role of risk and protective factors in contributing to emotion dysregulation in refugee girls may contribute to the development of effective interventions to target the psychological effects of the refugee experience.