Mistreatment at work and musculoskeletal pain in male and female working Syrian refugee children

Abstract

Since the Syrian war in 2011, Syrian refugees in Lebanon have continued to experience socioeconomic deprivation, resorting many families to child labour as a form of survival. Adopting a gender-sensitive analysis, this study explores the relationship between psychosocial adversities and musculoskeletal pain among male and female Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, using data from a cross-sectional survey of working Syrian refugee children between 8 and 18 years in informal tented settlements in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. The majority of working children (4090) worked in agriculture (75.8%). Of the children who experienced musculoskeletal pain, 27.4% worked despite severe pain, three-quarters of the children worked under time pressure, over a third (37.4%) were physically abused at work, and the majority (95.8%) had a good relationship with their co-workers. Logistic regression models revealed a significant association between exposure to psychosocial stressors at work and musculoskeletal pain among male and female children.

Practitioner summary: This study is the first to obtain direct testimony on musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial risk factors, among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. Using a gender-sensitive analysis, the survey results demonstrated associations between exposure to psychosocial stressors and musculoskeletal pain among male/female Syrian refugee children enduring strenuous working conditions.

Keywords:

• Child labour
• musculoskeletal problems
• psychosocial risk factors
• gender
• refugee

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Syrian refugees in Lebanon who agreed to participate in this project. We also thank all those who provided support on this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Data availability statement

Due to ethical issues surrounding this highly vulnerable study population living in a sensitive context (children and perhaps parents working with a nondocumented status, which may incur hostility), exposing their data is a potential risk to their safety and well-being. Consequently, the data from the study cannot be made public.

Additional information

Funding

Rima R. Habib received funding from IDRC, UNICEF, FAO, and ILO. These organisations are the International Development Research Centre (IDRC Grant number: 106981-001), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The funders had no role in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the paper, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.