Executive Summary
Since the beginning of Syria’s crisis in 2011, Caritas Lebanon Migrants Center (www.caritasmigrant.org.lb) has been concerned with the mental health and well-being of refugee children. CLMC has carefully documented the huge number of cases it has managed, using the data to develop an overall psychological evaluation. The information and analyses included in this report demonstrate CLMC's continuous dedication to improve its programs in order to prevent life-long effects of trauma, and offer more effective responses for refugee children with mental health issues. This study, conducted in spring 2015, has been an important investment to understanding those needs and preparing evidence-based responses.
This study sampled 486 Syrian refugee children (aged 5-17 years old) throughout Lebanon who were registered with CLMC. In addition to individual interviews with children, the study also collected individual stories and conducted focus groups with parents. Throughout the research process, extreme care was taken to ensure that participants were able to recount potentially traumatic events and personal, sensitive matters in a confidential and secure environment. All psychologists and social workers took great care in conducting the interviews and offered immediate assistance in case any child was discovered to be in need of psychological intervention.
Unfortunately, one of the key conclusions of this study is that the crisis has highly impacted children’s mental wellbeing. Although the majority of children were not physically harmed by the conflict, they have been severely impacted by the loss of stability and the subsequent changes in homes, changes in schooling, and loss of belongings.
Obviously, this instability is a source of trauma in and of itself. In parallel, only a minority of these children were injured, kidnapped, arrested, or forced into armed action. The majority of children were indirectly affected by the conflict, either by witnessing armed action or by having adult relatives killed, injured, or arrested.
The findings of the study show relatively few fixed patterns in whether and how children develop trauma, as well as whether or how they overcome it. However, it did highlight a number of findings which are valuable in designing effective mental health interventions for children.
The report's findings are as follows: - Most children did not directly experience trauma-inducing experiences, but had been a witness to them or had heard of them indirectly. Most children developed some type of symptoms associated with trauma. - There were no discernible patterns along gender lines in terms of having experienced trauma-inducing events nor in exhibiting symptoms associated with trauma. - Family ties are incredibly strong. Children retreat into their families and can find their families as a constant source of support, even when relations are strained. Family life is the main anchor for Syrian refugee children. - Being enrolled in school did not necessarily improve mental health status, but it did improve behavior and social networks. - Structured programs are not often cited as a need, but social networks are important. NGOs should build programs that improve networks and ensure children are involved and active.
Some of the key statistics (with a margin of error of +/- 15%) from the study include - 44% of children had to change homes inside Syria before coming to Lebanon. - 42% of children had lost belongings. - 10% of children had been injured in the conflict prior to coming to Lebanon. - 67% had witnessed bombings and 37% had seen or heard of killings. - 33% frequently felt sad or happy while 30% reported feeling nervous or anxious. - 37% reported having flashbacks and 28% reported having nightmares. - 67% had been enrolled in Lebanese schools during the current scholastic year. - 91% hoped to return to Syria as soon as possible. - 55% expected their life to be generally positive in the next year and 65% expected their life to be generally positive as an adult
CLMC hopes that this data will serve as a call to improved mental health services for children in need.