Abstract
Research shows that a mother’s perception of her relationship with her child can differ from the way the child perceives their relationship in several notable ways and that mental health difficulties (e.g., depression) in the mother or child can affect their perceptions of their relationship (Seneldir et al., 2022). The current study examined the similarities and differences in perceptions of the mother-child relationship among 121 mother-child pairs of Syrian refugees in Amman, Jordan. The subjects shared their experiences with war and its impact on individual and family health and functioning. The average age of the interviewed children was 10.3 years, 50.5% of which were boys. The findings from the study reveal that 74.7% of mothers, 46.5% of boys, and 54.2% of girls were depressed. Mothers’ positive perceptions of their mother-child relationship was significantly correlated with the children’s positive perception of the relationship (r = .31, p < .001). However, a correlation between mothers’ negative perceptions and the children’s negative perceptions of the mother-child relationship was not significant. Moreover, mothers did not notice daughters’ depressive symptoms while daughters clearly recognized their mother’s depressive symptoms. Discussions explore how trauma of war can lead to post-traumatic growth and development of parentification skills in daughters and how they use these skills to conceal their own distress from their depressed mothers in an attempt to maintain a positive or neutral relationship. This possibly leads the mothers to perceive the mother-child relationship more positively than does their daughter.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
SYRIAN REFUGEES, MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS, DEPRESSION, PARENTIFICATION, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
