This pilot study was carried out in Central America to assess the levels of stress manifested by a group of 90 refugee children aged 7-12 years. The countries of origin were El Salvador and Nicaragua while the countries of asylum were Costa Rica, Hondurus, and Nicaragua. The study found that sress experienced by the children was unacceptably high, that civil violence and larger family size raised levels of stress, and that the overall impact of the refugee experience has extremely negative and long-term consequences for their social, emotional, and educational development.
