Post-migration stressors, mental health and well-being in resettled refugees from Syria: Do individuals’ coping strategies matter?

Abstract

The evidence is mixed as to whether individuals’ coping strategies may mitigate the adverse mental health effects of post-displacement stressors in refugee populations, with some indications that the buffering effects of coping strategies are context dependent. The present study examined if problem-solving and acceptance coping strategies were effect modifiers between post-migration stressors and mental health in adult refugees from Syria resettled in Sweden. Study aims were investigated using cross-sectional survey data from a nationwide, randomly sampled group of adult refugees from Syria granted permanent residency in Sweden between 2011 and 2013 (Nsample = 4000, nrespondents = 1215, response rate 30.4%). Post-migration stressors examined included: financial strain, social strain, host-country competency strain and discrimination. Two mental health outcomes were used: anxiety/depression, measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25; and well-being, measured with the WHO-5 Well-being Index. Both outcomes were modelled continuously. Coping strategies were measured using the BRIEF Cope scale. Interactions between coping strategies and post-migration stressors were tested in fully adjusted linear regression models using Wald test for interaction, corrected for multiple testing using the Benjamini–Hochberg procedure. Both problem-solving and acceptance coping strategies buffered the adverse association between financial strain and symptoms of anxiety/depression, and problem-solving coping strategies buffered the adverse association between host-country competency strain and anxiety/depression. The study suggests that individuals’ coping strategies may to some degree buffer the adverse mental health effects of financial strain and host-country competency strain experienced by refugees in the resettlement phase. Although this pattern was only found in regard to anxiety/depression and not subjective well-being, the findings show that individual-level coping skills among refugees may contribute to adaptation in the face of post-settlement adversities. Notwithstanding the importance of attending to refugees’ psychosocial conditions, refugees residing in refugee camps and newly resettled refugees might benefit from interventions aiming at enhancing individual coping resources and skills. The potential effect of increased controllability and decreased conflict-proximity also warrants further exploration in future studies.