During times of distress and transition, how can refugee children receive the support they need for healthy social-emotional development that is crucial to this period of their lives? The following article discusses the SPRINT research-practice project that works to assess the needs of Syrian refugee families in the Greater Toronto Area support refugee and provide them with accessible resources they can use to educate and support refugee children’s well-being.

Refugees face an incredible number of adversities during the time they are displaced and beyond (Hazer & Gredebäck, 2023). Children are especially vulnerable to this adversity which can cause hinderances in their development as they are exposed to traumatic scenarios.

 

This article synthesizes the concepts and evidence presented by Malti et al. (2021) on prosocial development in refugee children.

 

Prosocial behaviour in children is described by the authors as empathetic, altruistic, or selfless behaviour that displays their consideration of others’ feelings and experiences. Pro-social development in refugee children is of specific interest to researchers today as they investigate the causes and potential solutions to the negative impact their environment has on this aspect of their social development.

 

 

The SPRINT Project

 

The Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy (CCDMP) at the University of Toronto Mississauga works to minimize these impacts through their Supporting Pro-sociality and Resilience in Newcomer Transitions (SPRINT) research-practice project. This project focuses on assessing strengths and needs and providing support and education on healthy social-emotional development for Syrian refugee and migrant children in Canada. Using community-based intervention and training methods, SPRINT Project research assistants conducted needs assessments of willing participants from the target communities in Ontario and Calgary.

 

Based on these assessments accessible campaigns and resources were developed and implemented by the team to help meet refugee families’ needs, such as community presentations, publications, reports, social media content, and developing evidence-based caregiver and practitioner training to support refugee and newcomer families in promoting their children’s social-emotional development.

Preliminary evidence shows that a pilot version of this training significantly increased caregivers’ knowledge of social-emotional concepts and their use of strategies learned during training, and improved social-emotional development (such as emotion regulation) in Middle Eastern refugee children (Al-Janaideh, 2023).

 

In addition to our applied work in this area, members of the CCDMP also conduct research on how the social and emotional development of refugee children is impacted by their environment. For example, members of the research team, led by Dr. Tina Malti, co-wrote a research paper on the types of prosocial behaviour refugee children in Canada receive from others and display towards others, as well as the motives behind these prosocial behaviours (Malti, 2021).

 

 

Why is this research important?

 

Research on this topic is important because although there have been millions of Syrians displaced, there are limited resources to accommodate this community’s need for support while they endure traumatic circumstances such as war or persecution. Furthermore, there is a small amount of research on how their prosocial development is impacted, especially since research on “typically developing Western children” may not apply this distinct context or members of these cultures.

 

Prosocial development in children is a topic worth investigating as it is associated with better mental health, including reduced withdrawal and aggression, better adjustment to a wide range of social situations, and improved academic performance. Support for this development in refugee children is especially critical as research shows that in cases of displacement and adversity, the behaviours, relationships, and social competency skills of young children were negatively impacted.

 

Refugee children can go through extreme instances of displacement and trauma that have the potential to affect their ability to create strong relationships with others, find confidence in social situations, and display appropriate behaviour across new situations. Other, although fewer, articles suggest the possibility of some positive outcomes: some authors note that in having more adverse childhood experiences, some youths can show increased capacity for prosociality, with some children showing more selfless behaviour and increased concern for others. However, other research and theories suggest that decreased resources within these contexts can cause children to act more in their interest in acts of self-preservation or even survival.

 

 

How we did it: The study details

 

To further investigate how prosocial development is impacted in the refugee community, a group of around 90 refugee children ages 5–12 years who have settled in Canada were asked a series of questions about the support they have received throughout their resettlement journey.

 

● To capture the diversity of prosocial behaviours reported and the motivations behind them, open-ended questions were used.

 

● Children were asked to describe situations where they experienced or demonstrated prosocial behaviour. For example, they were asked to describe a time when they helped others or someone helped them, and to share details about these situations.

 

● The research team categorized the reported behaviours based on the type of help they provided and the motivations behind them.

 

 

What did our study find?

 

The researchers found a wide range of behaviours and motivations displayed in these children. Providing direct help that was crucial in someone getting aid was most prevalent, which is consistent with research done on prosocial development in their Western peers. However, teaching (by “providing new knowledge or information”) was the most frequent behaviour they received, while sympathy and close relationships were common motivations. These were consistent with their unique migration experiences. Explanations include the possibility that their adverse experiences caused an increase in dependence, attachment, and strong connections to others in their community or significant others that provide them with comfort and security.

 

 

What’s next?

 

Overall, the authors state that even though the results show that the adversity that refugee children have experienced may have influenced the vast array of prosocial behaviours refugee children receive and the motivations behind the type of behaviours they display. They stress that this is important for future research, especially if they can overcome this study’s limitation of a small number of participating children.

Further investigations are also encouraged to further examine the specific types of help and motivations commonly reported in this study. This finding could be useful in creating tailored interventions that promote continued prosocial behaviour in a wider range of resettling refugee children, such as SPRINT’s caregiver training (now called The 3Es of Social-Emotional Development ©).

 

 

What Can I Do?

 

To best support this community in need, the first step, just as in the SPRINT project, is to hear firsthand from the community about what their strengths and needs. As readers of this article, you’ve already begun this step!

 

● Educating ourselves on the knowledge and experiences community members and researchers have already recorded can help us understand what we can provide to help.

 

Examples: Keep updates on the news, read more about refugee lives (such as in books and articles written by refugees and current research articles), or listen to podcasts (we recommend “The Refugee” by The Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition)

 

● Encouraging awareness on this topic and engaging in projects that work on doing so (like SPRINT) are also important components in aiding.

 

Examples: Share this article, listen to the experiences of those in the community, talk about it with your friends and family, or volunteer to support refugees through local organizations. By prioritizing support for prosocial development in communities of children with diverse life experiences, we can strengthen their behavioural and mental health resilience, fostering skills they can use throughout their lives and encourage in others.