Risk and Protective Factors for Common Mental Disorders among Urban Somali Refugee Youth
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Risk and Protective Factors for Common Mental Disorders among Urban Somali Refugee Youth Laura E. T. Swan 1 & Hyojin Im 1 Accepted: 23 September 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore exposure to trauma as well as demographic and psychosocial factors as predictors of mental health symptoms among Somali refugees in Kenya. Participants were recruited via snowball sampling to complete a survey and included 86 Somali refugee youth, aged 15 to 34 years, who were living in Eastleigh. We measured trauma using a total traumas experienced variable as well as four trauma types categories (pre-migration/migration trauma, post-migration trauma, family trauma, and individual trauma). We measured anxiety and depression symptoms using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and PTSD using the PTSD Check List – Civilian Version (PCL-C). We ran descriptive statistics followed by multiple linear regression models with trauma exposure, education, gender, and willingness to share problems as predictors of mental health symptoms. Out of 12 possible traumatic events, most participants (83.7%) reported experiencing at least one trauma, and participants reported experiencing an average of 3.76 total traumas. The regression models predicted between 11.5% and 35.5% of the variance of the mental health symptoms. Willingness to share problems was a significant predictor of decreased mental health symptoms in most models. These findings highlight the role of trauma exposure and psychosocial factors in predicting Somali refugee mental health and indicate that implementing programs to encourage problem sharing may help address Somali refugee mental health needs. Further research is needed to explore the differential impact of trauma exposure and various psychosocial factors on Somali refugee mental health. Keywords Refugee trauma . Psychosocial factors . Help-seeking . Mental health . Immigration . Depression . Anxiety . PTSD
Background Over two million Somalis have been forcefully displaced since the Somali civil war in 1991 and its aftermath which has caused chaos and social conflict in the country for decades (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] 2017). Approximately 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Somalia, and nearly 900,000 Somalis are refugees, the majority of whom have fled to neighboring countries including Kenya, Yemen, and Ethiopia (UNHCR 2017; UNHCR 2020). Throughout forced migration, Somali refugees experience high levels of trauma, violence, and resource loss (Betancourt et al. 2015; Im et al. 2017; de Jong et al. 2011; Onyut et al. 2009). Existing research suggests that,
* Hyojin Im [email protected] 1
School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 Floyd Ave, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
among Somali refugees, this exposure to trauma predicts common mental disorders (CMDs), including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Bentley 2010; Bhui et al. 2003; Ellis et al. 2008; Feyera et al. 2015; Im
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