Displaced Syrian children's reported physical and mental wellbeing

Abstract

Background

Surviving a warzone inflicts harmful consequences on the physical health and the psychosocial wellbeing of children. This study aimed at exploring the physical and psychosocial perceived state of health of displaced Syrian refugee children in Jordan.

Methods

A cross-sectional explorative design was applied. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data through face-to-face interviews with 250 Syrian refugee children. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Results

Children had fair levels of physical health; their health concerns were minor. Psychosocially, 25% (n = 63) suffered from loneliness and 24% (n = 59) reported feeling depressed. The majority of children (>60%) had low rates of somatic pain. Age had a negative correlation with hyperactivity (r = −.14, p = .034); gender differences were found in anger expression and anger trait (p < .05).

Conclusions

The results in this study highlight a number of physical and psychosocial health concerns among refugee children. The health needs of displaced Syrian children need to be addressed using comprehensive assessment and care. Our findings documented the physical and psychosocial health needs of the displaced Syrian children in Jordan and addressed areas of focus to guide health promotion interventions and community health efforts for them.

RAS ID

24717

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2017

School

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Wiley

Comments

Hamdan‐Mansour, A. M., Abdel Razeq, N. M., AbdulHaq, B., Arabiat, D., & Khalil, A. A. (2017). Displaced Syrian children's reported physical and mental wellbeing. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 22(4), 186–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12237

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1111/camh.12237