Syrian Civil War’s effects on Turkish school children: prevalence and predictors of psychopathology^*

* This study was conducted as Dissertation Study of Sinem Tabur for the degree of Masters in Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychology of Hasan Kalyoncu University Institute of Social Sciences. Parts of the study were previously presented as “The Effects of Syrian Civil War on Turkish Primary School Students: Prevalence and Predictors of Psychopathology, Traumatic Experiences and Post -Traumatic Stress Symptoms: A Field Study from Suruç” at the 17th International ESCAP Congress (07.09.2017–07.11.2017, Switzerland). The study has not been presented before in full and is not currently under consideration for publication at another journal. All of the authors have contributed to the study and confirm the integrity of the research process and data.

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study flowchart for evaluating the Syrian Civil War’s effects on Turkish school children residing in Suruc.

Table 1. Parent-reported traumatic experiences related to Syrian Civil War in Turkish.schoolchildren residing in Suruc county.

Experience	Rate (n, %)
Witnessing explosions	42.0 (26.9%)
Witnessing injuries of others	34.0 (21.8%)
Witnessing deaths of relatives and acquaintances	28.0 (17.9%)
Damage to housing	26.0 (16.7%)
Witnessing kidnappings of relatives and acquaintances	25.0 (16.0%)
Death of family members	11.0 (7.1%)
Injuries of family members	4.0 (2.6%)

Table 2. T scores in parent reports of Child Behaviour Checklist for 4–18 years old children according to gender.

	Male (n = 83)	Female (n = 73)	P*
Social problems	43.7 (2.1)	40.7 (2.1)	>0.05
Social withdrawal	49.2 (1.9)	42.5 (3.8)	>0.05
Somatic complaints	48.0 (0.0)	42.8 (0.0)	>0.05
Anxiety/ depression	60.8 (4.2)	42.9 (7.0)	>0.05
Internalizing problems	55.2 (1.5)	41.7 (5.3)	>0.05
Thought problems	44.3 (0.0)	42.6 (2.5)	>0.05
Attention problems	48.6 (8.5)	42.6 (0.0)	>0.05
Delinquent behaviours	49.6 (1.5)	48.5 (9.3)	>0.05
Aggressive behaviours	45.3 (4.1)	44.5 (9.1)	>0.05
Externalizing problems	46.8 (1.9)	45.9 (9.7)	>0.05
Total problem score	49.7 (2.8)	43.2 (6.4)	>0.05

*Student’s t-test for independent samples