When the village gets bombed:Parenting in the aftermath of war and refuge

This dissertation aimed to unravel how parenting practices take shape in the aftermath of war and refuge. A mixed-methods systematic review and meta-analysis using meta-analytical structural equation model (MASEM; k = 38, N = 55,000) showed that war-exposure casts its effects on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems partly directly, and partly indirectly through reduced parental warmth and increased harshness, but not through reduced or increased behavioral control. A meta-synthesis (k = 10, N = 1,042) nuanced these linear patterns, suggesting that the impact of war exposure on parenting depends on the nature of the exposure, with bereavement resulting in more and rape in less parental warmth. In-depth interviews with 27 refugee parents explored how the accumulation and dissipation of stressors along the refugee process changed parenting. In displacement, parents generally resorted more towards harshness, while in resettlement some parents resorted more to communication and limit setting and relied less on harshness. In addition, 55 refugee parents reported up to 10 times a day on symptoms of post-migration stress, parental self-efficacy, and supporting the autonomy of their children. Our dynamic structural equation modelling (DSEM) showed that parental self-efficacy played a key role in explaining why when refugee parents experienced more post-migration stress they grant their children less autonomy. Lastly, a randomized within-subject experimental design with 53 refugee parents using Interrupted Time Series Analysis within a DSEM framework showed that a brief intervention can (a) strengthen parental self-efficacy among refugee parents and (b) render parental self-efficacy less contingent on post-migration stress

Parenting in times of war: A meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis of war-exposure, parenting, and child adjustment

This mixed-methods systematic review and meta-analysis sheds more light on the role parenting practices play in children’s adjustment after war exposure. Specifically, we quantitatively examined how war exposure shapes parenting behavior, and whether parenting behavior explains some of the well-known associations between war exposure and children’s adjustment. In addition, we meta-synthesized the qualitative evidence answering when and why parenting practices might change for war-affected families. We searched nine electronic databases and contacted experts in the field for relevant studies published until March 2018, identifying 4,147 unique publications that were further screened by title and abstract, resulting in 158 publications being fully screened. By running a meta-analytic structural equation model (MASEM) with 38 quantitative studies (N = 54,372, Mage = 12.00, SDage = 3.54), we found that war-exposed parents showed less warmth and more harshness towards their children, which partly mediated the association between war exposure and child adjustment, i.e., more post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression and anxiety, social problems, externalizing behavior, and lower positive outcomes. War exposure was not associated with parents’ exercise of behavioral control. Through meta-synthesizing ten qualitative studies (N = 1,042, age range = 0-18), we found that the nature of war-related trauma affected parenting differently. That is, parents showed harshness, hostility, inconsistency and less warmth in highly dangerous settings, and more warmth and overprotection when only living under threat. We conclude that it is not only how much but also what families have seen that shape parenting in times of war

Strengthening parental self-efficacy and resilience: A within-subject experimental study with refugee parents of adolescents

Post-migration stress and parenting adolescents can reduce parental self-efficacy. This study tested the effects of strengthening parental self-efficacy in refugee parents of adolescents and whether this makes parental self-efficacy less impacted by post-migration stressors. Using a within-subject experimental design, experience sampling data were collected in 2019 from 53 refugee parents of adolescents (Mage = 39.7, SDage = 5.59, 73% Syrian, 70% mothers) in the Netherlands. Data were analyzed by dynamic structural equation modeling using interrupted time-series analysis. The single-session personalized intervention strengthened parental self-efficacy (small effect: between case standardized mean difference = 0.09) and made refugee parents less vulnerable to post-migration stressors. Findings suggest that parental self-efficacy is malleable and strengthening it fosters refugee parents' resilience. Replications with longer-term follow-ups are needed

Postmigration stress compromises refugee parents’ self-efficacy and autonomy-supportive parenting:An experience sampling study

Refugee parents raise their adolescent children in a world that is different from the world they themselves grew up in, often experiencing postmigration stress. This may hamper parents’ confidence in their parenting skills and make it difficult for them to grant adolescent children the autonomy they desire and need. In this preregistered study, we aimed to advance our understanding of this process by examining, in daily life, whether postmigration stress contributes to less autonomy-supportive parenting through compromised feelings of parental self-efficacy. Fifty-five refugee parents of adolescent children resettled in the Netherlands (72% Syrian; Mage children = 12.81) reported on their postmigration stress, parental self-efficacy, and parental autonomy support up to 10 times a day for 6–8 days. We fit a dynamic structural equation model to test whether postmigration stress predicted reductions in parental autonomy support, and whether parental self-efficacy explained this link. Results showed that when parents experienced more postmigration stress, they granted their children less autonomy at a later timepoint, in part, through parents feeling less efficacious after having experiencing postmigration stress. Findings held after controlling for parents’ posttraumatic stress symptoms, and when controlling for all possible temporal and lagged associations. Our results highlight that postmigration stress shapes parenting practices, above and beyond symptoms of war-trauma, in the daily lives of refugee families.</p

Parenting in times of refuge:A qualitative investigation

This qualitative study sheds light on how the different phases of refuge and resettlement shape parents’ perceptions of their parenting. We used in‐depth interviews to examine parents’ accounts of how war and refuge gave rise to different stressors, and how these in turn shaped parenting. We interviewed 27 Syrian refugee parents recently settled in the Netherlands (16 families) twice, using a grounded theory approach. We distinguished five phases of refuge, namely prewar, war, flight, displacement, and resettlement. During flight and displacement, stressors associated with financial and material losses appeared to induce parental empathy for children's suffering, which seemed to increase parental leniency. Stressors emerging from family separation during displacement, however, were reported to burden parents and to lead to uncertainty, which seemed to compromise parental warmth and sensitive discipline. While narratives suggest that families reacted in similar ways during the phases of war, flight, and displacement, differences seemed to emerge during the resettlement phase. Some parents stated that in resettlement, they experienced post‐traumatic growth (e.g., increased compassion for their children) and were more autonomy supporting than before the war. Other parents seemed to struggle with accepting and supporting their children's emotions and appeared to resort more readily to parental control. Our findings suggest that emotional exhaustion plays a key role in how parents viewed their parenting changed during refuge, and that individual differences in parents’ abilities to recover from emotional exhaustion played a key role in shaping parenting in resettlement

Strengthening parental self-efficacy and resilience: A within-subject experimental study with refugee parents of adolescents

Post-migration stress and parenting adolescents can reduce parental self-efficacy. This study tested the effects of strengthening parental self-efficacy in refugee parents of adolescents and whether this makes parental self-efficacy less impacted by post-migration stressors. Using a within-subject experimental design, experience sampling data were collected in 2019 from 53 refugee parents of adolescents (Mage = 39.7, SDage = 5.59, 73% Syrian, 70% mothers) in the Netherlands. Data were analyzed by dynamic structural equation modeling using interrupted time-series analysis. The single-session personalized intervention strengthened parental self-efficacy (small effect: between case standardized mean difference = 0.09) and made refugee parents less vulnerable to post-migration stressors. Findings suggest that parental self-efficacy is malleable and strengthening it fosters refugee parents' resilience. Replications with longer-term follow-ups are needed

Strengthening parental self-efficacy and resilience: A within-subject experimental study with refugee parents of adolescents

Post-migration stress and parenting adolescents can reduce parental self-efficacy. This study tested the effects of strengthening parental self-efficacy in refugee parents of adolescents and whether this makes parental self-efficacy less impacted by post-migration stressors. Using a within-subject experimental design, experience sampling data were collected in 2019 from 53 refugee parents of adolescents (Mage = 39.7, SDage = 5.59, 73% Syrian, 70% mothers) in the Netherlands. Data were analyzed by dynamic structural equation modeling using interrupted time-series analysis. The single-session personalized intervention strengthened parental self-efficacy (small effect: between case standardized mean difference = 0.09) and made refugee parents less vulnerable to post-migration stressors. Findings suggest that parental self-efficacy is malleable and strengthening it fosters refugee parents' resilience. Replications with longer-term follow-ups are needed