Understanding Refugee Parent-Child Discrepancies in Reporting Socio-Emotional Well-Being

Canada has welcomed over 100,000 Syrian refugees since 2015, many of whom have faced displacement-related challenges that shape their socio-emotional well-being. Refugee children, in particular, are at heightened risk for socio-emotional difficulties due to their developmental sensitivity to adversity, exposure to traumatic events, and resettlement stressors. Assessing children’s socio-emotional well-being often relies on both parent-reports and child self-reports; however, discrepancies between these reports commonly occur, and the factors influencing such discrepancies are not well understood, particularly in displaced populations. The present study examined predictors of parent-child discrepancies in reports of socio-emotional well-being and explored whether such discrepancies were associated with children’s learning outcomes. Participants were Syrian refugee children (N = 55, Mage = 14.42) who were resettled in Canada for an average of six years. Results revealed that children consistently self-reported more socio-emotional problems than their parents reported. Moreover, longer time resettled in Canada predicted greater parent-child discrepancies, suggesting that resettlement-related factors and acculturation influence parent-child discrepancies. However, child self-reports, but not parent-reports, showed limited external validity; while parent-child communication barriers may contribute to discrepancies, differences in how socio-emotional constructs are understood and reported by parents and children are important to consider. These findings underscore the importance of including multiple informants in socio-emotional well-being assessments and carefully considering cultural and contextual factors when designing assessments, specifically given the complex dynamics in displaced families. Future research is important to advance the literature to determine whether assessments of socio-emotional well-being should be adapted for specific populations, as suggested by the present findings.