Coping in Limbo? The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies in the Relationship between Post-Migration Stress and Well-Being during the Asylum-Seeking Process - PubMed (original) (raw)

Coping in Limbo? The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies in the Relationship between Post-Migration Stress and Well-Being during the Asylum-Seeking Process

Øivind Solberg et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021.

Abstract

Asylum seekers are faced with high levels of post-migratory stress due to uncertainty and uncontrollability of the application process, resulting in higher levels of mental health problems. Little is known about the coping strategies utilized by asylum seekers in this context. Structural equation modeling and the stepwise modeling approach were utilized on cross-sectional data from a cohort of asylum seekers in Sweden (N = 455) to examine whether adaptive coping in the form of problem-focused and cognitive-based coping would buffer the impact of post-migratory stressors by moderating the relationship between the stressors and well-being. Fit indices showed good to excellent fit of the final model that regressed well-being on selected post-migratory stressors and coping (CFI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.043 (90% CI = 0.035-0.051), SRMR = 0.044). Well-being was negatively and significantly regressed on both perceived discrimination (B = -0.42, SE = 0.11, p < 0.001) and distressing family conflicts (B = -0.16, SE = 0.07, p = 0.037), and positively and significantly regressed on cognitive restructuring (B = 0.71, SE = 0.33, p = 0.030). There was, however, no evidence that coping strategies modified the adverse associations between the two post-migratory stressors and well-being. Interventions and policies should prioritize improving contextual factors inherent in the asylum-seeking process in order to reduce stress and enable coping.

Keywords: asylum seekers; coping; family conflicts; mental well-being; perceived discrimination; stressors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Full structural equation measurement models in the first step of the Structural Equation Model. Panel (a) shows the final measurement model for post-migration stressors; panel (b) the model for well-being; and panel (c) the model for coping. The displayed estimates are standardized coefficients (ß).

Figure 1

Figure 1

Full structural equation measurement models in the first step of the Structural Equation Model. Panel (a) shows the final measurement model for post-migration stressors; panel (b) the model for well-being; and panel (c) the model for coping. The displayed estimates are standardized coefficients (ß).

Figure 2

Figure 2

Full structural equation model of well-being regressed on post-migration stressors and coping strategies. The displayed estimates for regression weights are unstandardized (B) with robust standard error in parentheses. Significant weights are indicated by solid-line arrows. Dashed-line arrows indicate nonsignificant regression weights. The weight estimates that are significant are in bold.

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