Working memory and emotional interpretation bias in a sample of Syrian refugee adolescents
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Working memory and emotional interpretation bias in a sample of Syrian refugee adolescents Sven C. Mueller1,2 · Cagla Unal3 · Michela Saretta1 · Fadwa Al Mughairbi4 · Joana Gómez‑Odriozola2 · Esther Calvete2 · Baris Metin5 Received: 5 June 2020 / Accepted: 25 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The number of adolescent refugees around the world has been continuously increasing over the past few years trying to escape war and terror, among other things. Such experience not only increases the risk for mental health problems including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but also may have implications for socio-cognitive development. This study tested cognitive-affective processing in refugee adolescents who had escaped armed conflict in Syria and now resided in Istanbul, Turkey. Adolescents were split into a high trauma (n = 31, 12 girls, mean age = 11.70 years, SD = 1.15 years) and low trauma (n = 27, 14 girls, mean age = 11.07 years, SD = 1.39 years) symptom group using median split, and performed a working memory task with emotional distraction to assess cognitive control and a surprise faces task to assess emotional interpretation bias. The results indicated that high (vs. low) trauma symptom youth were ~ 20% worse correctly remembering the spatial location of a cue, although both groups performed at very low levels. However, this finding was not modulated by emotion. In addition, although all youths also had a ~ 20% bias toward interpreting ambiguous (surprise) faces as more negative, the high (vs. low) symptom youth were faster when allocating such a face to the positive (vs. negative) emotion category. The findings suggest the impact of war-related trauma on cognitive-affective processes essential to healthy development. Keywords War · Trauma · Adolescents · Refugee · Emotion · Working memory · interpretation bias
Introduction Increasing worldwide war, conflict, or political turmoil is leading to an ever-greater number of migrants wishing to escape these desperate situations. In 2018 alone, the number * Sven C. Mueller [email protected] 1
Dept. of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2
Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatment, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
3
Graduate School of Psychology, Özyeğin University, Istanbul, Turkey
4
Psychology Program, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
5
Department of Psychology, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey
of global refugees has been estimated at 25.9 million, with 41.3 million being internally displaced due to violence and conflict [1]. The continuing armed conflict in Syria forced around 2.7 million people to seek refuge in Turkey, many among them minors [2]. Yet, the cognitive-affective consequences of these experiences and displacement from their homes i
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