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Although there has been increasing attention on the impact of risk and resilience factors on refugee children's mental health, there has been limited evidence on the role of parental factors to inform interventions, and this predominantly relies on adult reports. The aim was to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and attachment relationships and child mental health, as reported by 322 Syrian refugee minors aged between 8 and 17 years in Turkey. Child-rated scales included the Children Revised Impact of Event Scale–8 (CRIES-8), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Security Scale and Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran for Children (EMBU-C), and were used as measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general mental health problems, attachment relationships and perceived parenting styles, respectively. Children with secure maternal and paternal attachment perceived their parents as less rejecting, while children with secure paternal attachment also reported their parents as emotionally warmer. Attachment relationships significantly contributed in predicting PTSD after controlling for age and gender, while conduct problems were predicted by lack of emotional warmth, rejection and over-protection by both parents, in addition to insecure attachment relationships. Refugee children's views are essential in establishing their needs and planning interventions. These should address both the impact of trauma and current family relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

War-torn children are particularly vulnerable through direct trauma exposure as well through their parents’ responses. This study thus investigated the association between trauma exposure and children’s mental health, and the contribution of parent-related factors in this association. A cross-sectional study with 263 Syrian refugee children-parent dyads was conducted in Turkey. The Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (SLE), General Health Questionnaire, Parenting Stress Inventory (PSI-SF), Impact of Events Scale for Children (CRIES-8), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to measure trauma exposure, parental psychopathology, parenting-related stress, children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and mental health problems, respectively. Trauma exposure significantly accounted for unique variance in children’s PTSS scores. Parental psychopathology significantly contributed in predicting children’s general mental health, as well as emotional and conduct problems, after controlling for trauma variables. Interventions need to be tailored to refugee families’ mental health needs. Trauma-focused interventions should be applied with children with PTSD; whilst family-based approaches targeting parents’ mental health and parenting-related stress should be used in conjunction with individual interventions to improve children’s comorbid emotional and behavioural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]