Though recent years have brought a greater understanding of the consequences of war exposure on mental health outcomes for refugee children, little is known about the longitudinal and developmental im

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Resilience in Children Survivors of Armed Conflict: a Systematic Scoping Review of Risk and Protective Factors (2026) · doi

  Several limitations should be considered when interpret- ing the findings of this scoping review. First, the screening and study selection process was conducted primarily by a single reviewer, which may increase the risk of selection bias despite the use of predefined inclusion and exclu- sion criteria. Second, many of the included studies relied on self-report measures, which may be subject to recall bias and social desirability effects, potentially influenc- ing the accuracy of reported outcomes. Third, most of the reviewed studies relied on non-random convenience sam- pling (18 studies), limiting the generalizability of their find- ings. Additionally, the predominant use of retrospective and cross-sectional designs (16 studies) poses methodological concerns. Another notable limitation is the geographic con- centration of studies in Western and Arab countries, with minimal representation from conflict-affected regions in Africa and Asia. Finally, as with most reviews, the findings may be influenced by publication bias, as studies with non- significant or negative results are less likely to be published and therefore captured in the review. Future research must address this gap to ensure a more global and inclusive understanding of children’s resilience in war-affected contexts. Furthermore, the frequent use of self-report measures raises concerns, as they may not always reflect genuine resilience and may instead represent self- protective or illusory responses (Gudjonsson et al., 2021). To gain deeper insight into how resilience manifests in chil- dren, especially within diverse cultural and social contexts, qualitative methodologies are essential. Longitudinal, pro- spective research designs are also needed to clarify the rela- tionship between resilience and long-term psychological well-being, and to inform the development of more effec- tive, culturally sensitive interventions. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Anamika Saharan for proofreading this manuscript. Funding No funding was received. Data Availability On request.

  Keywords: resilience bias self review selection relied report measures social designs concerns affected contexts funding several
• The longitudinal impact of war exposure on psychopathology in Syrian and Iraqi refugee youth (2023) · doi

  Though recent years have brought a greater understanding of the consequences of war exposure on mental health outcomes for refugee children, little is known about the longitudinal and developmental impact of these experiences on youth.

  Keywords: though recent years brought greater understanding consequences exposure mental health outcomes refugee children little known
• Mindfulness and Perceptions of Undergraduate Healthcare Students Toward War-Affected Refugee Children: A Cross-Sectional Study (2026) · doi

  their mindfulness Several limitations should be considered for this study. One limitation of this study is the potential influence of survey sequencing, as participants responded to perception-based questions about war- affected refugee children prior to completing the MAAS. The emotionally charged nature of these questions may have affected participants’ cognitive and emotional states, potentially responses. Another influencing limitation of this study is the pronounced ceiling effect observed for the item “Does war affect children negatively,” with nearly all participants endorsing this statement. This restricted variability may have reduced the sensitivity of correlational analyses involving this variable. Additionally, the cross-sectional design limits the ability to draw causal inferences about students’ attitudes and behaviors toward war-affected populations. Longitudinal or intervention- based research is recommended to examine whether mindfulness influences students’ professional attitudes or actions over time. Another limitation concerns the sample characteristics. The study was conducted with undergraduate students from the Faculty of Health Sciences at a public university located in western Türkiye. Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to students from other disciplines, regions, or cultural contexts. Future research should include more diverse and representative samples to increase the external validity of the results. Moreover, all the data were collected via self-report instruments, which may be susceptible to social desirability bias and subjective interpretation, potentially limiting the accuracy of the findings. The study also did not assess whether participants had prior experience or training in mindfulness practices, which may have influenced their MAAS scores independently of their academic or personal characteristics. Finally, students’ perceptions of war-affected children may have been shaped by cultural norms, political views, or media exposure—factors that were not controlled for in this study. These contextual influences should be considered in future research to better understand the social and cognitive determinants of attitudes toward vulnerable populations. Mindfulness Toward War-Affected Refugee ChildrenAcıbadem Univ. Sağlık Bilim. Derg. 2026Implications for Practice

  Keywords: affected students mindfulness participants limitation children attitudes toward considered based questions refugee prior maas cognitive