Predictors of coping with posttraumatic stress in children affected by armed conflict
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6127-2025-4-163-172
A review of scientific work in the field of optimizing the psychological well-being of children injured during hostilities over the past 20 years is presented. Children who witness combat have been found to be at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. There are often publications in foreign publications about the need for the prevention and correction of post-traumatic stress in children affected by armed conflicts. Foreign researchers come to an unambiguous conclusion about the influence of the style of family upbringing on the vulnerability of children to stressful influences in the aftermath of military actions. Also, an important factor in the formation of vulnerability to negative impact on the child’s psychic is the level of their resilience and psychological well-being. Based on the results of this review, it can be concluded that stable connections with parents and other referents are an important predictor of post-traumatic growth and psychological well-being of children. Along with the traditional consideration of the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder, the authors also consider a new approach to the interpretation of this concept, which has been defined as complex post-traumatic stress disorder, considering not only the well-known symptoms such as intrusions, rumination, escapism, and inability to control arousal, but also the lack of ability to maintain social relationships with others, regulate one’s own emotions, and a sense of vulnerability. This review will allow further identification of exposure targets for the organization of psychological and pedagogical rehabilitation of war-affected children. Understanding the mechanisms of risk behavior formation and protective factors that lead to impaired psychological health or maladaptation increases the possibility of effective psychological assistance to children.
Keywords: psychological well-being of children, children affected by armed conflicts, posttraumatic stress, prevention and correction of post-traumatic stress, predictors of coping with posttraumatic stress, post-traumatic growth
References:
1. Kien C., Sommer I., Faustmann A., Gartlehner G. Prevalence of mental disorders in young refugees and asylum seekers in European countries: A systematic review. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 2018, vol. 28, рр. 1295–1310. doi: 10.1007/s00787-018-1215-z
2. Carpiniello B. The mental health costs of armed conflicts: a review of systematic reviews conducted on refugees, asylum-seekers and people living in war zones. Int J Env Res Pub Health, 2023, vol. 20, 2840. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042840
3. Eruyar S., Yilmaz M., O’Reilly M., Vostanis P. Process of co-production of mental health service plans for refugee children in Turkey. Child Adol Ment Health, 2023, vol. 23, рр. 303–312. doi: 10.1111/chso.12807
4. Diab M., Peltonen K., Qouta S., Palosaari E., Punamaki R.L. Can functional emotion regulation protect children’s mental health from war trauma? A Palestinian study. Int J Psychol, 2019, vol.54, рр. 42–52. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12427
5. Blackmore R., Gray K.M., Boyle J.A., Fazel M., Ranasinha S., Fitzgerald G., Misso M., Gibson-Helm M. Systematic review and meta-analysis: The prevalence of mental illness in child and adolescent refugees and asylum seekers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2020, vol. 59(6), рр. 705–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.11.011
6. Daniel-Calveras A., Baldaquí N., & Baeza I. Mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors in Europe: A systematic review. Child Abuse and Neglect, 2022, vol. 133, 105865. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105865
7. Danese A., Martsenkovskyi D., Remberk B., Khalil M. Y., Diggins E., Keiller E., Masood S., Awah I., Barbui C., Beer R., Calam R., Gagliato M., Jensen T. K., Kostova Z., Leckman J.F., Lewis S.J., Lorberg B., Myshakivska O., Weisz J.R. & Affected Youth (GROW) Network. Scoping review: Digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2024. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.017
8. Slavich G.M., Roos L.G., Mengelkoch S., Webb C.A., Shattuck E.C., Moriarity D.P., Alley J.C. Social safety theory: Conceptual foundation, underlying mechanisms, and future directions. Health Psychology Review, 2023, vol. 17 (1), pp. 5–59. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2023.2171900
9. Spaas C., Verelst A., Devlieger I., Aalto S., Andersen A.J., Durbeej N., Hilden P.K., Kankaanpää R., Primdahl N.L., Opaas M., Osman F., Peltonen K., Sarkadi A., Skovdal M., Jervelund S.S., Soye E., Watters C., Derluyn I., Colpin H., De Haene L. Mental health of refugee and non-refugee migrant young people in European secondary education: The role of family separation, daily material stress, and perceived discrimination in resettlement. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 2022, vol. 51 (5), pp. 848–870. doi: 10.1007/s10964-021-01515-y
10. Slone M., Mann S. Effects of war, terrorism and armed conflict on young children: A systematic review. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 2016, vol. 47 (6), pp. 950–965. doi: 10.1007/s10578-016-0626-7
11. Peltonen K., Kangaslampi S., Saranpää J., Qouta S. & Punamäki R. L. Peritraumatic dissociation predicts posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms via dysfunctional trauma-related memory among war-affected children. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2017, vol. (sup3), 1375828. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2017.13-75828
12. Scharpf F., Saupe L., Crombach A., Haer R., Ibrahim H., Neuner F., Peltonen K., Qouta S., Saile R., Hecker T. The network structure of posttraumatic stress symptoms in war-affected children and adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Advances, 2022, vol. 3 (1), e12124. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12124
13. Trickey D., Siddaway A. P., Meiser-Stedman R., Serpell L., Field A. P. A meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 2012, vol. 32 (2), рр. 122–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.12.001
14. Veronese G., Pepe A., Jaradah A., Murannak F., Hamdouna H. “We must cooperate with one another against the enemy”: Agency and activism in school-aged children as protective factors against ongoing war trauma and political violence in the Gaza strip. Child Abuse and Neglect, 2017, vol. 70, pp. 364–376. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.027
15. Punamäki R.L., Qouta S.R., Peltonen K. Family systems approach to attachment relations, war trauma, and mental health among Palestinian children and parents. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2018, vol. 8 (Suppl 7), pp. 1439649. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2018.1439649
16. Eltanamly H., Leijten P., Jak S., Overbeek, G. Parenting in times of war: A meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis of war exposure, parenting, and child adjustment. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 2021, vol. 22 (1), pp. 147–160. doi: 10.1177/1524838019833001
17. Sim A., Bowes L., Gardner F. Modeling the effects of war exposure and daily stressors on maternal mental health, parenting, and child psychosocial adjustment: A cross-sectional study with Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Global Mental Health, 2018, vol. 5, e40. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2018.33
18. Ungar M. & Theron L. Resilience and mental health: How multisystemic processes contribute to positive outcomes. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2020, vol. 7 (5), рр. 441–448. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30434-1
19. Calhoun L.G., Cann A., Tedeschi R.G. The posttraumatic growth model: Sociocultural considerations. Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2010. Р. 1–14.
20. Kangaslampi S., Peltonen K., Hall J. Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress: A network analysis among Syrian and Iraqi refugees. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2022, vol. 13 (2), pp. 2117902. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2117902
21. Ferris C., O’Brien K. The ins and outs of posttraumatic growth in children and adolescents: A systematic review of factors that matter. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2022, vol. 35 (5), рр. 1305–1317. doi: 10.1002/jts.22845
22. Hiller R.M., Meiser-Stedman R., Fearon P., Lobo S., McKinnon A., Fraser A. & Halligan S. L. Research review: Changes in the prevalence and symptom severity of child post-traumatic stress disorder in the year following trauma: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2016, vol. 57(8), рр. 884–898. doi: org/10.1111/jcpp.12566
23. Nosè M., Ballette F., Bighelli I., Turrini G., Purgato M., Tol W., Priebe S., Barbui C., & Schmahl, C. Psychosocial interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers resettled in high-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 2017, vol. 12 (2), e0171030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171030
24. Aleksandrova L.A., Dmitrieva S.O. Deti v usloviyakh voyny: obzor zarubezhnykh issledovaniy [Children and War: Review of Foreign Studies]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaya psikhologiya – Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2024, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 139–149(in Russ., аbstr. in Engl.). doi: 10.17759/jmfp.2024130113
25. Ulyanina O.A., Aleksandrova L.A., Dmitrieva S.O. Features of the Current State of Students in Regions with High Involvement in the Consequences of Hostilities. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2024, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 171–189 (in Russ., аbstr. in Engl.). doi: 10.17759/sps.2024000001
( 426.65 kB ) 
( 419.59 kB )
Issue: 4, 2025
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: PSYCHOLOGY
Pages: 163 — 172
Downloads: 230