Maltreatment Links to Risky Behavior Differ Between Syrian Refugee and Turkish Adolescents

A cross-sectional study of 266 adolescents recruited from child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient services in Turkey finds that the pathways linking childhood maltreatment to risky behaviors appear to differ between Syrian refugee adolescents and their Turkish host-country peers. The research, published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, used a multi-group structural equation modeling framework to compare the two populations directly.

The participants included 165 Syrian refugee adolescents and 101 Turkish host-country adolescents, with a mean age of 15.51 years and roughly 70 percent female. The study assessed previous childhood maltreatment, perceived stress, psychological distress, somatic complaints, social desirability, affective states, personality traits, executive functioning, and risky behaviors. Multiple linear regression and multi-group structural equation modeling were used to examine associations among these variables and to identify group-specific patterns.

The results revealed a striking contrast between the two groups. Syrian adolescents reported substantially higher risky behavior scores, while Turkish adolescents endorsed higher levels of childhood maltreatment, psychological distress, somatic complaints, and perceived stress. This discrepancy between elevated risky behaviors and comparatively lower self-reported distress among Syrian adolescents is one of the study’s most notable observations.

In the overall sample, childhood maltreatment, male gender, and somatic complaints were positively associated with risky behaviors, whereas conscientiousness and social desirability showed negative associations. These associations are cross-sectional and do not establish causal relationships between maltreatment and later behavior.

The multi-group modeling indicated that, among Syrian adolescents, childhood maltreatment was directly associated with risky behaviors and also indirectly associated with them through perceived stress, with the indirect association occurring in a negative direction. The association between childhood maltreatment and risky behaviors was more pronounced among Syrian adolescents than among their Turkish counterparts.

The relationship between childhood maltreatment and somatic complaints varied according to both social desirability and gender. Higher socially desirable responding was associated with a weaker relationship between maltreatment and somatic complaints, and a stronger link was observed among Syrian girls than among Syrian boys. These findings suggest that response style and gender may shape how the maltreatment-somatic complaint pathway manifests in this population.

Among Turkish adolescents, a different pattern emerged: executive functioning difficulties and psychological distress were the stronger correlates of risky behaviors. The authors conclude that their findings provide partial support for indirect and moderated associations between childhood maltreatment and adolescent risky behaviors within the cross-sectional multi-group framework, and that patterns of association may differ across refugee and host-country adolescents and may be shaped by social desirability response style and gender.

The study was grounded primarily in developmental psychopathology and stress-process perspectives, and the authors note that the psychosocial processes linking childhood maltreatment to adolescent risky behaviors across these populations remain insufficiently understood. The article is published as open access, with the shared version subject to further edits before the final Version of Record.

Because the sample was recruited consecutively from child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient services, the findings pertain to clinical populations rather than the general adolescent population, and the cross-sectional design limits any causal interpretation. The authors emphasize that the results highlight the importance of culturally sensitive and multidimensional assessment approaches in refugee mental health settings, given that self-reported distress and behavioral risk may not align in the same way across refugee and host-country adolescents.

Subject of Research: Associations between childhood maltreatment and risky behaviors among Syrian refugee and Turkish host-country adolescents

Article Title: Childhood maltreatment and risky behaviors in Syrian refugee and host-country adolescents: a cross-sectional multi-group structural equation modeling analysis

Article References: Boyraz Efe, A., & Yeti̇m, O. (2026). Childhood maltreatment and risky behaviors in Syrian refugee and host-country adolescents: a cross-sectional multi-group structural equation modeling analysis. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01186-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s13034-026-01186-2

Keywords: childhood maltreatment, risky behaviors, Syrian refugee adolescents, Turkish adolescents, structural equation modeling, perceived stress, somatic complaints, social desirability, cross-sectional study, adolescent mental health, Childhood, maltreatment