A Matter of Time: A Study on Emotional Character Growth Following Adversity in Syrian Origin Young Adults in the Netherlands

Around the world, the number of people who seek or have refugee status is
increasing. Within Europe, over 500,000 individuals sought asylum in 2014, and
this number grew to more than 1.2 million in 2016. Within the Netherlands,
there are at least 200,000 people with refugee status, many of whom are young
adults of Syrian origin. Young adults who seek or have refugee status are
likely to have been exposed to major, life-changing adversity. Although
adversity is linked to unfavorable outcomes, it is also thought to promote
character growth. Yet, little is known about how adversity generates strength
of character through emotions. This work will contribute to our fundamental
scientific knowledge, with findings from this project offering insights
regarding the development of character in the aftermath of adversity.
Additionally, moving beyond previous literature that has only focused on
negative experiences of individuals who seek or have refugee status, this work
will advance representations of Syrian youth in the Netherlands by broadening
the focus to include character and uplifting experiences. Moreover, it will
provide crucial knowledge on the specific needs of Syrian origin young adults
who have recently resettled in the Netherlands as they continue to grow and
build communities.

Scientific objectives:
1) To examine how character develops following adversity in young adults of
Syrian origin who seek or have refugee status in the Netherlands across
different time-scales: as long-term, relatively stable tendencies, as everyday
experiences, and as real-time behavior.
2) To examine the role that people*s emotional experiences may have in
explaining the link between adversity and character growth.

Societal objective:
3) To foster a partnership with young adults of Syrian origin in the
Netherlands in the form of participatory research that focuses on the sharing
of knowledge, community, and personal experiences.

Longitudinal design, including ecologically valid methods (e.g., experience
sampling and the Electronically Activated Recorder).

The extent of burden and risks associated with participation in the proposed
study are minimal, with no risk for any serious adverse event. Members of our
team, Drs. Eva Alisic, Trudy Mooren, and Marieke Sleijpen, are trained clinical
psychologists that have extensive experiences with working with this
population, both in clinical practice and in research. Both PI*s have extensive
experience in working with large adolescent and young adult cohorts for
longitudinal research (Drs. Joanne Chung and Odilia Laceulle). Moreover, there
is broad expertise on the constructs covered in this project: on positive
traits/character (Chung/Laceulle/Dr. Jennifer Stellar), emotions
(Chung/Stellar), stress and trauma (Alisic/Laceulle/Mooren/Sleijpen) and young
adult mental health (Chung/Laceulle). It is important to note that all research
team members have incorporated the methods featured in the proposed research,
including cross-cultural methodology, longitudinal design, experience sampling,
and the EAR. In our experience, we have not encountered a situation in which a
participant reported adverse events due to participating in our studies.
Additionally, although answering questions about negative events can cause
discomfort by making the participant think about the event, but this is very
different from actually experiencing the event, and in some cases, can even
benefit the participant. Furthermore, the following protective actions will be
taken to ensure that participants will feel as comfortable as possible.
Research team members will come to quiet locations that are well-known to
participants, with at least one team member Arabic speaking present at the
first assessment of data collection. In later assessments, at least one team
member who is Arabic speaking will be present at each assessment if the
participant indicates that he, she, or they have a preference for it.

We will begin each measurement occasion with an hour-long face-to-face session
with members of the research team, such that opportunities for communication,
data collection, and clarification are provided. Specifically, members of the
research team will be present to answer any questions posed by our
participants, to administer the macro-level portion of the study on electronic
tablets, and to show participants how to participate in the meso- and micro-
level portions of the study.

The meso-level and micro-level study variables will be assessed immediately
following each face-to-face session, At the meso-level, we will ask
participants to complete brief surveys (~2 minutes) on a smartphone up to 5
times a day for 7 days, a methodology in which co-principal investigators Drs.
Odilia Laceulle, Joanne Chung, and research team member Jennifer Stellar hold
expertise. This will enable us to better understand the everyday experience of
events, emotions, and character in young adults of Syrian origin. At the
optional, micro-level, we will use the Electronically Activated Recorder via
the smartphone application the iEAR to record sounds in the participants*
environments every 5-and-a-half-minutes for 30 seconds for 2 days. The EAR has
been shown to reliably assess behaviors that reveal social interactions in the
form of stressful and uplifting events, emotions and character in everyday life
and has been successfully implemented in the work of our research team member
Dr. Eva Alisic*s research on children who are coping with trauma. Members of
the research team will lend smartphones for participants to use during the
meso- and micro-level portions of the study. Participants who borrow a
smartphone will be provided a self-addressed, stamped envelope in which to
return the smartphone at the conclusion of the meso-and micro-level portions of
the measurement occasion