Predictors of Environmental Sensitivity in Syrian refugee children.

IF 6.5 1区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-06-10 DOI:10.1111/jcpp.14178

Andrew K May, Demelza Smeeth, Fiona McEwen, Elie Karam, Michael Pluess

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Although more prone to psychopathology on average, refugee children differ in their response to adversity. Growing evidence attributes some of these individual differences to varying levels of Environmental Sensitivity - the extent to which children perceive and process contextual influences. However, there is limited knowledge of how Environmental Sensitivity is developmentally influenced, particularly in the refugee setting.

Methods: Here, we investigated whether individual-, family- and community-level predictors (psychosocial and genetic) were associated with self-reported Environmental Sensitivity and its subscales (measured using the 12-item Highly Sensitive Child Scale). Participants were a subsample (n = 1,409) from a cohort of Syrian refugee children and their biological mothers, recruited from informal tented settlements in Lebanon. Multivariate adaptive regression spline models were fitted to identify the best selection from over 40 available predictors.

Results: Twelve predictors of Environmental Sensitivity emerged, with the five most commonly selected being maternal behavioural control, human insecurity, positive home experiences, maternal anxiety and child-reported child abuse, the latter three of which were also suggested to predict changes in sensitivity over a 12-month period. Some predictors such as maternal PTSD, war exposure and bullying showed a non-linear, V-shape relationship with sensitivity. All effect sizes, however, were small.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both highly supportive and highly adverse contextual factors associate with greater childhood Environmental Sensitivity, in line with current theorising. Despite previous suggestive evidence, we did not find that polygenic scores for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder predicted sensitivity. Further research into predictors of Environmental Sensitivity is encouraged, as this may help with improved assessment of the trait in children.

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叙利亚难民儿童环境敏感性的预测因子。

背景：虽然难民儿童平均而言更容易出现精神病理，但他们对逆境的反应不同。越来越多的证据将这些个体差异归因于不同程度的环境敏感性，即儿童感知和处理环境影响的程度。然而，关于环境敏感性如何影响发展的知识有限，特别是在难民环境中。方法：在这里，我们调查了个人、家庭和社区水平的预测因素（社会心理和遗传）是否与自我报告的环境敏感性及其子量表（使用12项高敏感儿童量表测量）相关。参与者是来自叙利亚难民儿童及其生母队列的子样本（n = 1,409），从黎巴嫩的非正式帐篷定居点招募。多元自适应回归样条模型拟合，从40多个可用的预测因子中确定最佳选择。结果：出现了12个环境敏感性的预测因素，其中最常被选择的五个是母亲的行为控制、人类的不安全感、积极的家庭经历、母亲的焦虑和儿童报告的虐待儿童，后三个也被认为可以预测12个月期间的敏感性变化。一些预测因素，如母亲创伤后应激障碍、战争暴露和欺凌，与敏感性呈非线性的v型关系。然而，所有的效应量都很小。结论：我们的研究结果表明，高度支持和高度不利的环境因素都与儿童的环境敏感性有关，这与目前的理论一致。尽管之前有一些暗示性的证据，但我们没有发现自闭症和注意缺陷多动障碍的多基因评分可以预测敏感性。鼓励对环境敏感性的预测因素进行进一步研究，因为这可能有助于改进对儿童特征的评估。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

13.80

自引率

5.30%

发文量

169

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP) is a highly regarded international publication that focuses on the fields of child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. It is recognized for publishing top-tier, clinically relevant research across various disciplines related to these areas. JCPP has a broad global readership and covers a diverse range of topics, including: Epidemiology: Studies on the prevalence and distribution of mental health issues in children and adolescents. Diagnosis: Research on the identification and classification of childhood disorders. Treatments: Psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions for child and adolescent mental health. Behavior and Cognition: Studies on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of childhood disorders. Neuroscience and Neurobiology: Research on the neural and biological underpinnings of child mental health. Genetics: Genetic factors contributing to the development of childhood disorders. JCPP serves as a platform for integrating empirical research, clinical studies, and high-quality reviews from diverse perspectives, theoretical viewpoints, and disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach is a key feature of the journal, as it fosters a comprehensive understanding of child and adolescent mental health. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry is published 12 times a year and is affiliated with the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), which supports the journal's mission to advance knowledge and practice in the field of child and adolescent mental health.