Behavioral and Emotional Problems Among Jordanian and Syrian Refugee Children in Non-Camp Settings
ABSTRACT
Background:
Refugee children have an increased risk of physical and psychological illness Data on behavioral and emotional problems among Jordanian and Syrian refugee children in non-camp settings are scarce.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the behavioral and emotional problems among Syrian schoolchildren refugees living outside camps in Jordan and their Jordanian counterparts.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among Syrian and Jordanian school children, aged 12-17 years, studying in the same schools in four Jordanian cities with the highest density of Syrian refugees. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect information about the socio-demographic characteristics of children. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to measure behavioral and emotional problems among these children.
Results:
This study included a total of 1878 Jordanian adolescents (45.6% males and 54.4% females) and 1773 Syrian refugee adolescents (43.9% males and 56.1% females). The parents of Syrian adolescents were significantly less educated and had significantly lower total family income than Jordanian parents. More than half of Jordanian and Syrian adolescents had peer relation problems (53.6% and 55.5% respectively), 36.9% of Jordanian and 35.5% of Syrian adolescents had hyperactivity/ inattention problems, 44.8% of Jordanian and 47.6% of Syrian adolescents had conduct problems, and 30.8% of Jordanian and 32.0% of Syrian adolescents had emotional symptoms. On the other hand, 43.0% of Jordanian and 42.5% of Syrian adolescents had prosocial behaviors. In the multivariate analysis, Jordanian and Syrian children differed significantly in emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems. Compared to Jordanian children, Syrian children were less likely to experience emotional problems (OR = 0.81; p = 0.042) and peer relationship problems (OR = 0.80; p = 0.025).
Conclusions:
Emotional and behavioral problems are common among Syrian refugee schoolchildren as well as Jordanian schoolchildren. They are all in need of urgent psychosocial support.
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