Family and Peer Support Facilitates Recall and Retelling of Traumatic Memories in War Refugee Children and Adolescents

Arianna Barazzetti (), Stefano Milesi, Francesca Giordano, Maria Chiara Noto and Attà Negri
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Arianna Barazzetti: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy
Stefano Milesi: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy
Francesca Giordano: Resilience Research Unit, University Catholic of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy
Maria Chiara Noto: Milan Centre of Family Therapy, 20123 Milan, Italy
Attà Negri: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: War refugees are more likely to present psychological disorders, such as PTSD. Memory impairments often hinder their ability to recall and integrate traumatic events. This study investigated the memory capacity of 133 Syrian refugee children and adolescents in Lebanon and examined the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between exposure to negative events, post-traumatic stress reactions, and traumatic events recollection. Participants completed the Childhood War Trauma Questionnaire (CWTQ), Post-Traumatic Symptom Reactions Checklist for Children (PTSR-C), and Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 (CYRM-28). They also performed a timeline exercise, part of Narrative Exposure Therapy, in which they organized and described their positive and negative life memories. Results showed that memories of traumatic events were lower than potentially traumatic events that participants had witnessed. This difference increased as post-traumatic stress increased. Moreover, potentially traumatic events experienced predicted post-traumatic stress reactions, and these predicted negative memories recalled. Participants’ resilience moderated the association between post-traumatic reactions and remembered traumatic memories showing that only for children and adolescents with higher resilience post-traumatic symptoms predicted trauma-related memories. The results highlight meaning making and sharing capacities of natural relational contexts (family, peers, etc.) as potential key processes to be promoted to overcome and process traumatic events.

Keywords: war refugees; war trauma; PTSD; resilience; meaning making; narrative exposure therapy; family and peer support; dissociation; trauma memory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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