Parenting Interventions in refugee contexts: overview of findings and promising directions

Yavuz-Muren, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2780-1962 (2025) Parenting Interventions in refugee contexts: overview of findings and promising directions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. ISSN 1751-9004 (In Press)

Abstract/Summary

Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for shaping habits, behaviors, and identities, and parents play a vital role for positive development in these years. Positive parenting during these years leads to long-term benefits, ultimately promoting healthier societies. Refugee youth face heightened risks of negative emotional, social, and mental health outcomes due to the adversities in refugee contexts. Supporting refugee parents through targeted interventions can mitigate these risks, empowering youth to become resilient adults and contributing members of their communities. This paper examines the factors that would promote the effectiveness of parenting interventions in refugee contexts and suggests future directions for parenting interventions. Since parenting in refugee camps is uniquely challenging, comprehensive support systems to help parents is required. Research highlights the importance of comprehensive parenting programs that enhance knowledge, skills, cognitions, and mental health of parents. Group-based and longer-term interventions are suggested to be particularly effective, fostering lasting social support networks. Effective parenting interventions must also address basic needs including nutrition, safety, and financial security to create the stability necessary for positive parenting practices. Despite these promising outcomes, more research is needed to assess the cultural relevance and long-term effectiveness of these programs, especially in refugee camp settings. Moreover, potential new venues like intervening on promoting post-traumatic growth within different refugee settings as well as using digital tools to establish and sustain parenting intervention programs shall be examined. This paper provides potential new venues for research and interventions in refugee contexts.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/127509
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords	refugee parenting interventions, parenting refugee youth, well-being of refugee youth, post-traumatic growth in refugee contexts
Publisher	Wiley
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