Children who have suffered adversity tend to be less trusting of others. A critical aspect of trust perception central to psychosocial development involves evaluating other people’s trustworthiness based on their facial features. While a reduction in perceived facial trustworthiness has been previously observed in maltreated children, it is unclear whether trust perception is also affected in children who have experienced other forms of adversity, such as war trauma and displacement. In this pre-registered study, we investigated the perception of trust and its links to mental health among refugee children in Jordan.

Syrian refugee children (N = 324, M_age = 6.32 years) completed a validated trust task with computer generated faces varying in perceived trustworthiness. Mothers (N = 324, M_age = 32.59) provided information about their child’s mental health, as well their own mental health and their relationship with their child. We found age-related changes in perceived trust, with older children perceiving faces as less trustworthy than younger children (B = .32, p < .001). However, trust perception was not linked to child internalising or externalising symptoms. We also found no association between child’s trust perception bias, mothers’ mental health or the mother-child relationship quality (all p < .1).

Although how children make social judgments might be associated with psychosocial and emotional functioning in non-refugee populations of children with history of adversity, refugee children’s mental health does not seem to be linked to their perception of trust in this sample. This hints at fundamental differences in the development of trust perception in the context of adversity related to forced displacement and war, compared to interpersonal trauma. Our results also suggest that trusting others might diminish with age in displaced children populations.

Developing beliefs about the self that are clearly defined, internally consistent, and stable over time is a crucial developmental task during adolescence (Campbell et al., 1996). To establish such self-concept clarity, adolescents need stability in daily routines and in how they perceive the world (Benner et al., 2018). Adolescents who have been exposed to war and displacement are exposed to potentially traumatic events, and tend to experience post-migration stress in their resettlement contexts. Such experiences, both pre- and post-migration, can disrupt the daily stability needed to establish a clear sense of self (Melamed et al., 2024). Refugee adolescents therefore face significant obstacles to forming a clear self-concept.

This pre-registered study investigates (1) to what extent PTSD and post-migration stress relate to self-concept clarity in displaced Ukrainian youth (12-18 years) living in the Netherlands (N = 221), and (2) whether high levels of post-migration stress exacerbate the relation between of PTSD and self-concept clarity. We hypothesize that post-migration stress will be a stronger predictor of self-concept clarity than PTSD. Additionally, we hypothesize that post-migration stress will moderate the relation of PTSD with self-concept clarity. Finally, we will conduct sensitivity analyses testing whether including disorganization to the self in PTSD (i.e., complex PTSD) has a stronger effect on self-concept clarity than PTSD alone.

Data for this study have been collected. Hypotheses will be tested using multiple linear regression and data analysis will be finished before the conference. The findings of this paper can be helpful to contribute to the mostly qualitative and domain-specific identity literature on refugees, and to help develop interventions aimed at fostering a clear sense of identity in young refugees.

Momentary experiences of discrimination, language barriers, unfamiliar situations, and lack of belonging (i.e., post-migration stress) are linked to reductions in refugee parent’s sense of agency and competence in their parenting role (i.e., parental self-efficacy), and to how much autonomy they grant their adolescent children. Much less is known, however, about the mechanisms through which post-migration stress shapes parental cognitions and behaviours. Specifically, momentary micro-stressors may trigger intrusive thoughts, alternations in cognitions and mood, and feelings of isolation (i.e., momentary manifestations of trauma), which in turn could contribute to lower parental self-efficacy, and reduced autonomy support.

This study examines whether momentary manifestations of trauma mediate the link between post-migration stress and refugee parents' self-efficacy. Additionally, we test whether momentary manifestations of trauma differentially mediate the relationship between post-migration stress and autonomy-supportive parenting (subdimensions: perspective-taking and choice-granting). Specifically, we test whether trauma symptoms predict reduced parental perspective-taking while increasing choice-granting in interactions with children. Findings will provide insight into how post-migration stressors shape parental cognitions in refugee families and the nuanced impact of momentary trauma symptoms on parental autonomy support.

This pre-registered study uses experience sampling methods (i.e., parents reported on momentary questionnaires, 10 times per day, at quasi-random times, for 6–8 days) to examine within-person micro-processes among 73 refugee parents in the Netherlands. Data will be analysed using dynamic structural equation modelling.

Fifty-five refugee parents of adolescent children resettled in the Netherlands (72% Syrian; M_age children = 12.81) reported on post-migration stress, post-traumatic stress, parental self-efficacy, and autonomy support up to 10 times daily for 6–8 days. This work can inform interventions aimed at strengthening parental self-efficacy and autonomy-supportive practices in refugee populations. Additionally, the study will enhance our understanding of how micro-stressors influence trauma symptoms in refugee parents, elucidating a potential mechanism underlying compromised parenting in displaced families.