The effects of war, displacement, and trauma on child development

Abstract

In this paper, we review how refugee children’s psychological development is impacted by experiencing war, displacement, and trauma. As the Syrian conflict has resulted in the largest refugee crisis in modern history, we focus on Syrian refugees, but comparisons to other current major conflicts (Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Yemen) are done for reference, making this review relevant, not only for the Syrian conflict but war-affected children in general. The potentially traumatic events (PTEs) experienced by families and children vary depending on current and past migration experiences. During the premigration phase, there is a high risk of war-related PTEs whereas lack of shelter, high insecurity, and exploitation are common during the perimigration phase. Common PTEs during postmigration include uncertain legal status, changed family dynamics, downward mobility, and lack of social support. A high number of PTEs, low mental health, and permanent postmigration stress are evident across conflicts. In addition to these PTEs that impact all family members, there are additional long-lasting child-specific interpersonal PTEs related to parental practices and lack of support. These cumulative stressors are associated with poor mental health and developmental delays in several domains including cognitive functioning, emotion regulation, affective processing, and prospective control. At the same time, some studies demonstrate a high degree of resilience, and normative development, or report a lack of association between the psychological development of children and levels of PTEs. The number of studies assessing child development in this context is limited and more research is required in order to fill knowledge-gaps related to the mechanisms, and causal relations, behind these developmental outcomes.