Strength in Support: Post-Migratory Stress, Social Support, and Quality of Life in Adult Refugees from Syria Resettled in Norway

Abstract

Refugees and asylum seekers have been resettled in European countries in vast numbers since the beginning of the ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015, the largest group originating from Syria. The needs of this group are complex, though most research around their health and well-being has been conducted from a deficit perspective. The present study utilises data from the REFUGE-project, a large, nation-wide, cross-sectional study on the mental health and Quality of Life (QoL) of recently resettled adult refugees from Syria conducted in Norway in 2018. Informed by Berry’s acculturation theory and Bonanno’s resilience perspectives, the study uses questionnaire data collected from a group of 898 participants in three hierarchical multiple regressions to examine the relationships between three post-migratory stressors (Discrimination, Economic Strain, and Social Strain), and self-reported QoL. Social Support is then introduced as a moderator, in order to explore whether it provides a buffering effect against the potentially detrimental impacts of the three stressors. As hypothesised, all three post-migratory stressors were found to be significantly negatively associated with QoL. Social Support was found to moderate the relationship between Discrimination and QoL, but not the relationships between Economic Strain and QoL, or Social Strain and QoL. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.