Keynote speaker

Michael Pluess

University of Surrey (UK)

The Effects of War and Displacement on Syrian Refugee Children: Risk and Resilience

Millions of children across the world are affected by war and displacement. As well as having experienced traumatic war-related events, many refugee children end up living in adverse conditions with little access to basic resources. It is well established that children exposed to war and displacement are at increased risk for the development of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems. I will first introduce the Biological Pathways of Risk and Resilience in Syrian Refugee Children study (BIOPATH), which we conducted over the last 10 years in order to investigate the complex interplay between psychosocial and biological factors in the development of risk and resilience among a large sample of vulnerable Syrian refugee children (N = 1,600) living in informal refugee settlements in Lebanon. Then, I will report key findings from the BIOPATH study, including the prevalence and predictors of mental health problems, predictors of resilience, the development of resilience over time, the relationship between war exposure, hair cortisol levels and epigenetic factors (i.e., DNA methylation), as well as the role of the trait of environmental sensitivity for refugee children’s mental health.

Bio:

Michael Pluess, PhD, is a Professor in Developmental Psychology at the School of PsychologyUniversity of Surrey. His research focuses on three areas: 1) individual differences in Environmental Sensitivity, the notion that some people are more affected by the same experience than others due to being more sensitive to environmental influences, 2) Positive Development, such as the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at promoting the development of psychological well-being in children and adults, and 3) Mental Health and Resilience in Humanitarian Crises, including longitudinal studies and randomised controlled trials on mental health interventions in humanitarian settings. His research has been published in the leading journals of the field.