Search Results (18)

Refugees face post-migration stressors during resettlement in host countries, including forced separation from loved ones. This qualitative study aimed to examine the impact of family separation on refugee men living in the United Kingdom. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analysed following the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework. Participants described the emotional burden of family separation, alongside a perceived responsibility to support their families practically, emotionally, and financially. Men shared experiences of powerlessness, discrimination, and acculturation in the UK, and associated their experiences with time and context. Participants’ stories were embedded in their intersectional identities of masculinity, race, sexuality, religion, and migration status. Policymakers should consider the unique challenges male refugees separated from their families face in the UK in order to implement positive changes in the asylum system. Clinicians working with refugees and asylum-seekers should inform their assessment, formulation, and intervention approaches. Full article

This study aims to examine context-specific post-migration stress factors and their differential impacts on the mental health of Syrian refugee women resettled in Houston, Texas, and urban communities in Jordan. A cross-sectional survey investigated sociodemographic and health-related conditions, psychological distress and coping (Perceived Stress Scale [PSS]), mental health-related symptomatology (Self-Report Questionnaire [SRQ]), conflict-related psychological distress (Afghan Symptom Checklist [ASC]), and post-migration stress (Refugee Post-Migration Stress Scale [RPMS]). Linear regression models examined factors associated with post-migration stress and mental health outcomes. A total of 127 Syrian refugee women participated in the study. Participants were in their mid-30s (mean age = 34.79 ± 11.2 years), married (66.9%), and reported low levels of education (44.8% below high school), low employment (27.2%), and elevated financial strain (91% below the poverty line). Jordan-based refugees exhibited higher scores on mental distress measures compared to their Houston-based counterparts; specifically more elevated psychological distress (p < 0.001), symptomatology (p < 0.001), and conflict-related distress (p < 0.001). Syrian refugee women in Houston reported higher social strain, while those in Jordan experienced greater financial hardship and barriers to accessing healthcare services. Mental distress among Syrian refugee women is influenced by specific post-migration stressors that vary by resettlement location. Targeted interventions are necessary to improve mental health outcomes in this population. Full article

This paper examines how African immigrants living with HIV negotiate and reconstruct their productive (i.e., educational and career opportunities), sexual, and reproductive identities. We used data from a mixed-methods study to explore how stigma and social networks in which participants were embedded shaped how they understood and negotiated their role expectations and responsibilities. Participants revealed how HIV not only changed their identities and limited their sex life, partner choices, and fundamental decisions about fertility and reproduction, but also presented them with the opportunity to reinvent/reshape their lives. Our analysis revealed that the cultural discourses about illness and HIV in participant’s countries of origin, the acculturative and migratory stressors, and the competing influences and expectations from family and friends in their home and host countries shape their illness experience, and how they adjust to life with HIV. This paper builds on sociological understanding of illness experience as a social construct that shapes the ill person’s identity, role, and function in society. Specifically, the paper contributes to discourses on how (i) participants’ social location and identity (as transnational migrants adjusting to acculturative stressors associated with resettlement into a new country), (ii) cultural discourses about illness and HIV in their countries of origin, and (iii) embeddedness in transnational social networks influence health outcomes, including lived experiences with chronic illnesses and stigmatized conditions such as HIV. Full article

This phenomenological qualitative study explored how forced migrants in South Africa cope with violent, traumatic experiences and precarious resettlement conditions. Data came from a larger empirical project examining migration, psychological distress, and coping. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 refugees and asylum seekers (M_age = 30.27, SD_age = 9.27; male = 71.43%) who migrated from five African countries to Durban, South Africa. Despite overwhelming stressors, participants described pathways to transcend victimhood and hardship through engaging character strengths in ways that promote post-traumatic growth. Qualitative analysis revealed five overarching domains: spirituality and religiousness, love and kindness, hope and optimism, persistence and fortitude, and gratitude and thankfulness. Findings are framed within positive existential psychology and dual-factor understandings of mental health, which attend to both human suffering and flourishing. Limitations, future research directions, and clinical and community implications are discussed, with attention to the role of character strengths in adaptive coping and psychological well-being. The intergenerational transmission of strengths is explored as one potential means of buffering intergenerational trauma impacts and promoting family post-traumatic growth. Full article

Psychosocial support programs have been increasingly implemented to protect asylum seekers’ wellbeing, though how and why these interventions work is not yet fully understood. This study first uses questionnaires to examine how self-efficacy, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and adaptive stress may influence wellbeing for a group of asylum-seeking mothers attending a community-based psychosocial program called Welcome Haven. Second, we explore mothers’ experiences attending the Welcome Haven program through qualitative interviews. Analysis reveals the importance of relatedness as a predictor of wellbeing as well as the mediating role of adaptive stress between need satisfaction and wellbeing. Further, attending Welcome Haven is associated with reduced adaptive stress and increased wellbeing, which correspond with the thematic analysis showing that attendance at the workshops fostered a sense of belonging through connection with other asylum seekers and service providers as well as empowerment through access to information and self-expression. The results point to the importance of community-based support that addresses adaptive stress and the promotion of social connection as key determinants of wellbeing. Nonetheless, the centrality of pervasive structural stressors asylum seekers experience during resettlement also cautions that relief offered by interventions may be insufficient in the face of ongoing systemic inequality and marginalization. Full article

Even after arrival in new countries, refugees may be exposed to traumatic events. This state is exacerbated by contextual stressors, including the resettlement process, asylum proceedings and threats of deportation. This paper is rooted in a trauma-informed framework. We interviewed 16 male Syrian refugee migrant workers employed on a Jordanian farm during crop harvesting season to explore the quality and level of medical care and mental health services they received in light of the framework’s principal dimensions (e.g., safety, trust, intersectionality). We found that this vulnerable group of individuals is living a marginal and marginalized existence and depends on the goodwill of the growers for whom they work to treat them with a modicum of dignity and respect. Second, their itinerancy makes it difficult for this population to take advantage of available medical and mental health services at the nation’s major refugee camps. Finally, our interlocutors preferred their current lives, as isolating and limiting as they are, as superior to full-time residence in the camps, because they perceive their present way of life as according a measure of dignity, self-direction and autonomy they could not enjoy in the camps. Full article

Pre- and post-migration stressors can put resettled refugee children at risk of poor mental health outcomes. The Family Strengthening Intervention for Refugees (FSI-R) is a peer-delivered preventative home visiting program for resettled refugees that aims to draw upon families’ strengths to foster improved family communication, positive parenting, and caregiver-child relationships, with the ultimate goal of reducing children’s risk of mental health problems. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, this study draws upon qualitative interviews with caregivers (n = 19) and children (n = 17) who participated in a pilot study of the FSI-R intervention in New England, as well as interventionists (n = 4), to unpack quantitative findings on mental health and family functioning from a randomized pilot study (n = 80 families). Most patterns observed in the quantitative data as published in the pilot trial were triangulated by qualitative data. Bhutanese caregivers and children noted that children were less shy or scared to speak up after participating in the FSI-R. Somali Bantu families spoke less about child mental health and underscored feasibility challenges like language barriers between caregivers and children. Interventionists suggested that families with higher levels of education were more open to implementing behavior change. In both groups, families appreciated the intervention and found it to be feasible and acceptable, but also desired additional help in addressing broader family and community needs such as jobs and literacy programs. Full article

Social connections are foundational to the human condition and are inherently disrupted when people are forcibly displaced from their home countries. At a time of record high global forced migration, there is value in better understanding how refugee-background individuals engage theirsocial supports or ties in resettlement contexts. A mixed methods research design aimed to understand the complexities of how 104 refugee-background women experienced their social networks in the first few months of resettlement in Australia. One of the research activities involved participants completing a survey with both quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative analyses identified the impact of post-migration living difficulties that represented social stressors (worry about family, loneliness and boredom, feeling isolated, and racial discrimination) on the women’s mental health outcomes in the months following resettlement. The qualitative data highlighted the complexities of social relationships serving as both stressors and sources of support, and the importance of recognizing extended families and supports around the globe. The findings point to the need for nuanced accounts of the social contexts surrounding refugee resettlement as important influences able to promote trauma-informed and gender sensitive practices to support mental health and well-being in new settings. Full article

Family connections are crucial for trauma-affected refugees from collectivistic cultures. Evidence-based family interventions are consistently promoted to support a host of mental and relational health needs of families exposed to traumatic stressors; however, there is still limited research focused on cultural adaptation and the testing of the effectiveness of these interventions on some of the most disenfranchised populations in the aftermath of forced displacement. This systematic review was conducted to examine the reach of existing evidence-based family interventions implemented with newly resettled refugees globally. Studies included in this review include those testing the effectiveness of a systemic treatment with pre and post intervention evaluation, studies with or without control groups, and studies that include at least one family member in addition to the target participants. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Barriers to conducting randomized control trials with displaced refugee populations are discussed. Recommendations are made for future studies to include a focus on scientifically rigorous multi-method designs, specific cultural adaptation frameworks, and the integration of relational aspects rather than focusing only on individual adjustment. Global displacement continues to rise; therefore, it is imperative that the mental health and wellbeing of displaced populations be treated with a comprehensive, multi-level framework. Full article

We conducted a qualitative study involving African migrants (n = 20) and service providers (n = 10) in South Australia to explore mental health stressors, access to mental health services and how to improve mental health services for African migrant populations. This paper presents the views and experiences of African migrants about the post-migration stressors they faced in resettlement that pose mental health challenges. The participants were recruited using the snowball sampling technique. To align with the COVID-19 pandemic protocol, the data collection was conducted using one-on-one online interviews through Zoom or WhatsApp video calls. Data analysis was guided by the framework analysis. The post-migration stressors, including separation from family members and significant others, especially spouses, imposed significant difficulties on care provision and in managing children’s attitudes and behavior-related troubles at school. African cultural practices involving the community, especially elders in care provision and disciplining children, were not consistent with Australian norms, compounding the mental health stressors for all involved. The African cultural norms, that do not allow young unmarried people to live together, also contributed to child–parent conflicts, enhancing parental mental stressors. Additionally, poor economic conditions and employment-related difficulties were post-migration stressors that the participants faced. The findings indicate the need for policy and intervention programs that address the above challenges. The provision of interventions, including social support such as subsidized or free childcare services, could help leverage their time and scheduled paid employment, creating time for effective parenting and improving their mental health and wellbeing. Future studies exploring what needs to be achieved by government and non-governmental institutions to support enhanced access to social and employment opportunities for the African migrant population are also recommended. Full article

Unwelcome environmental changes can lead to psychological distress, known as “solastalgia”. In Germany, the open-pit mining of brown coal results in environmental changes as well as in the resettlement of adjacent villages. In this study, we investigated the risk of open-pit mining for solastalgia and psychological disorders (e.g., depression, generalized anxiety and somatization) in local communities. The current residents and resettlers from two German open-pit mines were surveyed concerning environmental stressors, place attachment, impacts and mental health status. In total, 620 people responded, including 181 resettlers, 114 people from villages threatened by resettlement and 325 people from non-threatened villages near an open-pit mine. All groups self-reported high levels of psychological distress, approximately ranging between 2–7.5 times above the population average. Respondents from resettlement-threatened villages showed the worst mental health status, with 52.7% indicating at least moderate somatization levels (score sum > 9), compared to 28% among resettlers. We observed a mean PHQ depression score of 7.9 (SD 5.9) for people from resettlement-threatened villages, 7.4 (SD 6.0) for people from not-threatened villages, compared to 5.0 (SD 6.5) for already resettled people (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the degradation and loss of the home environment caused by open-pit mining was associated with an increased prevalence of depressive, anxious and somatoform symptoms in local communities. This reveals a need for further in-depth research, targeted psychosocial support and improved policy frameworks, in favor of residents’ and resettlers’ mental health. Full article

The Empowerment and Peer Mentoring of Migrant and Refugee Women pilot program (EMPOWER) provides a mechanism for migrant women who have established lives in Australia to mentor newly arrived women to build the ability, confidence, and knowledge to overcome barriers to the social determinants of health such as employment. Female migrant mentors (n = 21) met with their mentees (n = 32) on a regular basis over a period of 3 to 12 months between September 2019 and November 2021. The individual mentoring was augmented by group workshops facilitated by content experts and the research team. The unique perspectives of the mentors were explored through individual interviews (n = 15) and analysis of journal entries (n = 58) submitted regularly by mentors throughout the program. Thematic analysis revealed that mentors were intrinsically motivated to build strong and trusting connections with their mentees, which were pivotal to reducing inequalities for mentees and their families. Mentors had high expectations of themselves and demonstrated commitment and flexibility to accommodate mentees’ needs. However, they sometimes struggled when supporting mentees who were overwhelmed by the systemic and other stressors associated with resettlement and pre-migration trauma. Regular networking and moral support for mentors would enhance future programs. Full article

The link between post-migration stressors and mental ill health is well documented in refugees resettled in high-income host countries, but the consequences of these stressors on refugees’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are less known. This study examined the association between post-migration stressors and HRQoL among Syrian adult refugees resettled in Sweden using a preference-based value set obtained from the general Swedish population. A total of 1215 Syrian adults, ages 18–64 years, granted residency in Sweden, responded to a postal questionnaire in 2016 regarding various aspects of their resettlement. The European Quality of Life Five Dimensions Five Level (EQ–5D–5L) questionnaire was used to assess HRQoL through an EQ–5D–5L index score (range; 0=dead to 1=full health). The index score was preference weighted using a Swedish population value set. Predictors were four self-reported post-migration stressors related to daily living in the host country: financial strain, social strain, competency strain and perceived discrimination divided into low, medium and high levels of experienced stress. Multivariable linear regression models were employed to assess the association between post-migration stressors and HRQoL index score, adjusting for potentially traumatic events in the pre- and peri-migration phase as well as sociodemographic confounders/covariates (sex, age, education, civil status, immigration year). The Syrian refugees had a mean EQ–5D–5L index score of 0.863 (SD = 0.145). There was strong evidence of a negative dose-response association in both unadjusted and adjusted models between HRQoL and the post-migration stressors financial strain and social strain—i.e., there was a stepwise, and statistically significant, decrease in HRQoL when going from low to medium to high strain. Competency strain and discrimination were only associated with lower HRQoL when experienced at high levels in fully adjusted models. High exposure to potentially traumatic experiences before or during flight was also associated with lower HRQoL. Syrian refugees resettled in Sweden reported a lower HRQoL than the general Swedish population and lower than age-matched Swedish adults. The present study results point to the possible adverse effects of post-migration stressors on HRQoL. Full article

The Syrian conflict has led to a mass migration of Syrians to other countries and exposed them to many possible traumatic events and stressors in their country of origin and in the resettlement process. The possibility of positive psychological effects of adverse life events is less documented among Syrian refugees. Thus, the current study aimed to develop preliminary evidence for the identifying factors: traumatic experiences, post-migration stressors and coping strategies that are associated with post-traumatic growth (PTG) of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in the current study to assess the associations among these factors. Data were obtained from Syrian refugees residing in the governorates of Hatay and Mardin. A total of 528 Syrians, aged between 18–77 years (M = 35.60, SD = 11.65) participated in this cross-sectional study. Results from the SEM indicated that past traumatic experiences and post-migration stressors were indirectly related to PTG. The results from the current study provide support for that the association between refugees’ traumatic experiences, post-migration stressors and PTG appear to be explained through the presence of coping strategies which could be addressed in the psychotherapies and psychosocial interventions for refugees to promote positive psychological change. Future studies should address the effects of post-migration stressors on PTG in detail. Full article

Women of Refugee Background (WoRB) have been repeatedly identified as an extremely vulnerable population. Within an Australian context, WoRB are increasingly resettled to non-metropolitan locations, otherwise known as regional locations. Despite this, to date, no research has focused on the lived experience and challenges associated with the resettlement of WoRB to regional contexts. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating the resettlement experience of WoRB resettled in Tasmania—a state in Australia classified as a rural and regional location. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a group of 21 individuals (nine WoRB and 12 service providers). Thematic analysis identified four overarching themes—Communication Barriers and Lack of Fluency in English, Challenges Accessing Everyday Basic Needs, Loss of Connection to Culture of Origin and Inability to Access Mainstream Mental Health Services for Help. Participants also highlighted a number of unique gender-related vulnerabilities experienced during resettlement, which were exacerbated in regional locations due to health services being overstretched and under-resourced. Results of the current study are discussed in regard to policy and practical implications, taking into consideration the unique vulnerabilities experienced by WoRB, which, to date, are often overlooked. Full article