Factors Contributing to Violence Against Children: Insights From a Multi-informant Study Among Family-Triads From Three East-African Refugee Camps

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110139
Author(s):  
Tobias Hecker ◽  
Edna Kyaruzi ◽  
Julia Borchardt ◽  
Florian Scharpf
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Childhood Victimization ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Parental Violence ◽  
Psychosocial Impairment ◽  
Violence Against Children

Parental violence poses a considerable, yet mitigable risk for the mental health and well-being of refugee children living in resource-poor refugee camps. However, little is known about potential risk factors for parental violence in these settings. Using an ecological systems perspective and a multi-informant approach, we investigated ontogenic (parental childhood experiences of violence), microsystem (parents’ and children’s psychopathology) and exosystem (families’ monthly household income) risk factors for child-directed parental violence in a sample of 226 Burundian families living in refugee camps in Tanzania. Data were collected through individual structured clinical interviews with mothers, fathers, and children. In the child-report path model [ χ2 (6) = 7.752, p = .257, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.99, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.036 ( p = .562)], children’s posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, externalizing symptoms and paternal PTSD symptoms were positively associated with violence by both parents. Maternal psychosocial impairment was positively associated with child-reported paternal violence. In the parent-report path model [ χ2 (6) = 7.789, p = .254, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.036 ( p = .535)], children’s externalizing problems as well as a lower monthly household income were positively related to maternal violence. Each parent’s childhood victimization was positively linked to their use of violence against children. Maternal psychosocial impairment and paternal alcohol abuse were positively associated with paternal violence. Child and paternal psychopathology, maternal psychosocial impairment, parents’ childhood victimization, and families’ socioeconomic status may be important targets for prevention and intervention approaches aiming to reduce parental violence against refugee children living in camps.

scholarly journals A socio-ecological analysis of risk, protective and promotive factors for the mental health of Burundian refugee children living in refugee camps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Scharpf ◽  
Getrude Mkinga ◽  
Faustine Bwire Masath ◽  
Tobias Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Refugee Youth ◽  
Promotive Factors

Abstract Children and adolescents’ mental health risk and resilience arise from a complex interplay of factors on several socio-ecological levels. However, little is known about the factors that shape the mental health of refugee youth living in refugee camps close to ongoing conflict. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 217 Burundian refugee children aged 7–15 and their mothers residing in refugee camps in Tanzania to investigate associations between risk, protective and promotive factors from various ecological levels (individual, microsystem, exosystem), and children’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, internalizing and externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. Data were collected using structured clinical interviews and analyzed using multiple regression models. Exposure to violence across all contexts and engagement coping were risk factors for PTSD symptoms and internalizing problems, while only violence by mothers seemed to increase children’s vulnerability for externalizing problems. A differential impact of violence exposures on prosocial behavior was observed. Higher-quality friendships appeared to protect youth from PTSD symptoms and externalizing problems, while they also promoted children’s prosocial behavior, just as mothers’ social support networks. Prevention and intervention approaches should integrate risk, protective and promotive factors for refugee youth’s mental health across multiple ecological contexts and take into account context-specific and adaptive responses to war and displacement.

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Investigation of the Impact of Operational Deployment on the Psychological Wellbeing of New Zealand Defence Force Service Personnel

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kelsey Laura Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Service Personnel ◽  
The Impact

<p>The deleterious impact of combat on psychological wellbeing has been documented as early as 490 B.C. by Greek historians (Bentley, 2005), and researchers continue to delve into this phenomenon today. Published literature in this field largely emanates from the United States and United Kingdom, whilst research from New Zealand is largely absent. The current study seeks to fill this gap with an investigation of the impact of overseas deployment on the psychological wellbeing of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) military personnel. This study utilised data from 1410 NZDF military personnel who operationally deployed between 1 July 2015 and 31 October 2016 and completed two questionnaires: (1) immediately following deployment, and (2) six months after returning home. Regression, moderation, mediation, and path model analyses were used to analyse the data. Several key findings were obtained. Firstly, combat stressors, as expected, predicted posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms but surprisingly not psychological distress. PTSD, as expected, predicted distress. Secondly, moderation analysis revealed that experiencing medium to high levels of non-combat stressors in addition to combat stressors was likely to result in exacerbated levels of PTSD symptoms. Thirdly, demographic characteristics such as being in the Navy, being female, and not being in a relationship were all identified risk factors for poorer psychological outcomes (PTSD symptoms and psychological distress), whereas neither ethnicity nor prior deployment experience functioned as risk factors. Lastly, mediation analysis revealed that PTSD partially explained the relationship between combat events and posttraumatic growth, suggesting that PTSD symptomology may prompt military personnel to appraise outcomes from their deployment, and subsequently experience personal growth. Implications of the current research lay in the potential for improvements to be made to the education, training, and support offered by the NZDF to their service personnel.</p>

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Investigation of the Impact of Operational Deployment on the Psychological Wellbeing of New Zealand Defence Force Service Personnel

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kelsey Laura Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Service Personnel ◽  
The Impact

<p>The deleterious impact of combat on psychological wellbeing has been documented as early as 490 B.C. by Greek historians (Bentley, 2005), and researchers continue to delve into this phenomenon today. Published literature in this field largely emanates from the United States and United Kingdom, whilst research from New Zealand is largely absent. The current study seeks to fill this gap with an investigation of the impact of overseas deployment on the psychological wellbeing of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) military personnel. This study utilised data from 1410 NZDF military personnel who operationally deployed between 1 July 2015 and 31 October 2016 and completed two questionnaires: (1) immediately following deployment, and (2) six months after returning home. Regression, moderation, mediation, and path model analyses were used to analyse the data. Several key findings were obtained. Firstly, combat stressors, as expected, predicted posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms but surprisingly not psychological distress. PTSD, as expected, predicted distress. Secondly, moderation analysis revealed that experiencing medium to high levels of non-combat stressors in addition to combat stressors was likely to result in exacerbated levels of PTSD symptoms. Thirdly, demographic characteristics such as being in the Navy, being female, and not being in a relationship were all identified risk factors for poorer psychological outcomes (PTSD symptoms and psychological distress), whereas neither ethnicity nor prior deployment experience functioned as risk factors. Lastly, mediation analysis revealed that PTSD partially explained the relationship between combat events and posttraumatic growth, suggesting that PTSD symptomology may prompt military personnel to appraise outcomes from their deployment, and subsequently experience personal growth. Implications of the current research lay in the potential for improvements to be made to the education, training, and support offered by the NZDF to their service personnel.</p>

Finnish refugee children’s experiences of Swedish refugee camps during the Second World War

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Merja Paksuniemi
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
World War ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Decisive Importance ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Camp Life ◽  
Second World

This article seeks to demonstrate how Finnish refugee children experienced living in Swedish refugee camps during the Second World War (1939–1945). The study focuses on children’s opinions and experiences reflected through adulthood. The data were collected through retrospective interviews with six adults who experienced wartime as children in Finland and were evacuated to Sweden as refugees. Five of the interviewees were female and one of them was male. The study shows, it was of decisive importance to the refugee children’s well-being to have reliable adults around them during the evacuation and at the camps. The findings demonstrate that careful planning made a significant difference to the children´s adaptations to refugee camp life. The daily routines at the camp, such as regular meals, play time and camp school, reflected life at home and helped the children to continue their lives, even under challenging circumstances.

scholarly journals Towards a Model for Integrating Informal and Formal Learning for Children in Refugee Camps: The Example of the Lesbos School for Peace

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Ephrat Huss ◽  
Smadar Ben Asher ◽  
Tsvia Walden ◽  
Eitan Shahar
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Arts Based Research ◽  
Whole School ◽  
School Based ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Post Disaster

The aim of this paper is to describe a unique, bottom-up model for building a school based on humanistic intercultural values in a post-disaster/refugee area. We think that this model will be of use in similar contexts. This single-case study can teach us about the needs of refugee children, as well as provide strategies to reach these needs with limited resources in additional similar contexts. Additionally, this paper will outline a qualitative arts-based methodology to understand and to evaluate refugee children’s lived experience of in-detention camp schools. Our field site is an afternoon school for refugee children operated and maintained by volunteers and refugee teachers. The methodology is a participatory case study using arts-based research, interviews, and observation of a school built for refugee camp children in Lesbos. Participants in this study included the whole school, from children to teachers, to volunteers and managers. The research design was used to inform the school itself, and to outline the key components found to be meaningful in making the school a positive experience. These components could be emulated by similar educational projects and used to evaluate them on an ongoing basis.

The effects of household income distribution on stroke prevalence and its risk factors of high blood pressure and smoking: a cross-sectional study in Saskatchewan, Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yelena Bird ◽  
Mark Lemstra ◽  
Marla Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
High Blood Pressure ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Statistical Adjustment ◽  
Stroke Prevalence

Background: Stroke is a major chronic disease and a common cause of adult disability and mortality. Although there are many known risk factors for stroke, lower income is not one that is often discussed. Aims: To determine the unadjusted and adjusted association of income distribution on the prevalence of stroke in Saskatchewan, Canada. Methods: Information was collected from the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada for 2000–2008. In total, 178 variables were analysed for their association with stroke. Results: Prior to statistical adjustment, stroke was seven times more common for lower income residents than higher income residents. After statistical adjustment, only four covariates were independently associated with stroke prevalence, including having high blood pressure (odds ratio (OR) = 2.62; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.12–3.24), having a household income below CAD$30,000 per year (OR = 2.49; 95% CI = 1.88–3.29), being a daily smoker (OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.16–1.58) and being physically inactive (OR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.13–1.43). After statistical adjustment, there were five covariates independently associated with high blood pressure prevalence, including having a household income below CAD$30,000 per year (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.41–1.63). After statistical adjustment, there were five covariates independently associated with daily smoking prevalence, including having a household income below CAD$30,000 per year (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.25–1.33). Conclusions: Knowledge of disparities in the prevalence, severity, disability and mortality of stroke is critically important to medical and public health professionals. Our study found that income distribution was strongly associated with stroke, its main disease intermediary – high blood pressure – and its main risk factor – smoking. As such, income is an important variable worthy of public debate as a modifiable risk factor for stroke.

scholarly journals HAV infection in Brazilian men who have sex with men: The importance of surveillance to avoid outbreaks

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256818
Author(s):  
Lisie Souza Castro ◽  
Grazielli Rocha de Rezende ◽  
Fernanda Rodas Pires Fernandes ◽  
Larissa Melo Bandeira ◽  
Gabriela Alves Cesar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Hepatitis A ◽  
Hepatitis A Virus ◽  
Transgender Women ◽  
Antibody Testing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Monthly Household Income ◽  
Sex With Men

Background Hepatitis A is a fecal-oral infection caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV). Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) have been reported as target groups for HAV infection. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence, risk factors, and circulating strains associated with HAV infection among MSM and TW in Central Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2011 to September 2013. Serum samples were collected from 425 individuals for anti-HAV antibody testing and HAV molecular characterization. Of them, 149 (35.1%) participants were self-identified as transgender women. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors of HAV seropositivity. Results The seroprevalence of HAV exposure was 69.7% (95% Confidence Interval: 65.3–74.0%). Serological evidence of HAV was significantly higher in participants who self-identified as transgender women (83.2%) than MSM (62.3%). Increasing age, non-white race, and lower monthly household income were independently associated with HAV exposure among MSM. Only lower monthly household income was independently associated with HAV exposure among TW. One anti-HAV IgM positive sample, from a transgender woman (0.2%), was detected and classified as subgenotype IA. Conclusions High HAV prevalence was observed, markedly among TW. Considering the risky sexual behaviors this population is exposed to, HAV vaccination and prevention programs targeting this population should be considered to prevent outbreaks and the burden of the disease.

scholarly journals Sexual crime against children with disabilities: a nationwide prospective birth cohort-study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mogens Christoffersen
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
Cox Model ◽  
National Study ◽  
Parental Violence ◽  
Sexual Crime ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Parental Unemployment

Background The rate of violent and sexual victimization against children with disabilities is thought to be lower than the rate for children without disabilities but several studies shows otherwise. Aims The study focuses on examining sexual crime against children with disabilities and explaining differences in victimization in order to elucidate to what extent types of disability, family disadvantages, gender, high-risk behavior, location influences adolescents’ risk of sexual victimization. Previous population studies lack scientifically sound research methodology and results are weak or inconclusive. Method data is based on a national study of reported sexual crime against children in Denmark aged between 7 and 18 years of age using total birth cohorts (N=678,000). The statistical analysis is a discrete time Cox-model. An extended list of potential risk factors was included in the analysis in order to adjust for confounding. The potentially confounding risk-factors were collected independently from various population-based registers, e.g. employment statistics, housing statistics, education statistics, income compensation benefits, and population statistics (e.g. gender, age, location). Hospital records with information on types of disability based on the national inpatient register and national psychiatric register were collected independently of the collection of law enforcements records about reported sexual offences under the Danish Central Crime Register. Results Children with disabilities are more likely to be victimized of a reported sexual crime than non-disabled children: ADHD odds ratio: 3.7 (3.5-3.9), mental retardation: 3.8 (3.6-4.0), autism 3.8 (3.6-4.0). Conclusion The present study finds that family disadvantage e.g.parental substance abuse, parental violence, family separation, the child in care, and parental unemployment indicate an increased risk of being a victim of a sexual crime. Assessment of risk factors may permit professionals to facilitate prevention and treatment interventions. The study underreports the size of the problem because adolescents with disabilities face barriers when reporting victimization.

scholarly journals PTSD Symptoms and Risk Factors During the COVID-19 Disease Pandemic in Iran

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3 Special Issue on COVID-19) ◽  
pp. 394-399
Author(s):  
Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Javadi ◽  
◽  
Roya Marsa ◽  
Fahimeh Rahmani ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

In December 2019, the Chinese government alerted the world to a dangerous virus that spread rapidly in communities. In fact, another acute respiratory syndrome occurred in Wuhan, China, and then spread rapidly to other parts of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to this virus as nCoV-2019, where n stands for “new” and CoV stands for “coronavirus”. In general, the virus (COVID-19) is similar to acute respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), but they are by no means identical

Refugees in Education

2018 ◽  
pp. 252-267
Author(s):  
Pierre Léna
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Family Culture ◽  
The Family ◽  
Displaced Children

This chapter focuses on one particular aspect of education for refugee children, namely science education, in the various contexts these refugees encounter, especially when immersed in cultures away from their mother language and bridges with the family culture. The universal character of natural sciences makes is precious for these displaced children. Renovating science education has been the subject of international efforts and remarkable innovative pilot projects since two decades A number of such projects, in various developing or developed countries, are reported here, with the positive impact which was observed in multi-cultural contexts. Although none of these projects yet dealt with extreme situations such as refugee camps, the lessons learned suggest to act in this direction, using the pedagogical ressources now available in many languages, as well as a potential contribution of the scientific community.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document