Sense of coherence as a pathway linking war trauma and post-migration stress to mental health functioning among refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Refugees carry a cumulative burden of past trauma and ongoing post-migration stress, yet the mechanisms linking these to mental health functioning remain incompletely understood. Sense of coherence - a salutogenic orientation comprising comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness - may help account for these associations. We tested sense of coherence as a mediator of both associations and compared the relative weight of the two stressor domains.
A cross-sectional sample of 151 refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands (84.1% with a residence permit) completed the LEC-5, PMLP, SOC-13, and OQ-45.2 in person with research-assistant support across Dutch, English, and Arabic. We conducted multiple regression and three PROCESS Model 4 mediation analyses, including a parallel mediation with sense of coherence and post-migration stress as simultaneous mediators.
Both stressors predicted poorer functioning, with post-migration stress substantially stronger than trauma exposure (b = .40 vs. .17). Sense of coherence was the strongest correlate of functioning (r = -.57) and statistically mediated both cross-sectional associations. In the parallel mediation, sense of coherence and post-migration stress mediated the trauma-functioning association, and the direct effect was no longer statistically significant once both were included. Family-oriented stressors dominated the burden profile: worries about family in the country of origin (78.8%), missing family (73.5%), and uncertainty about the future (70.9%).
As a personal-resilience construct shaped by - not insulated from - external conditions, sense of coherence warrants sustained attention in this population.
A cross-sectional sample of 151 refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands (84.1% with a residence permit) completed the LEC-5, PMLP, SOC-13, and OQ-45.2 in person with research-assistant support across Dutch, English, and Arabic. We conducted multiple regression and three PROCESS Model 4 mediation analyses, including a parallel mediation with sense of coherence and post-migration stress as simultaneous mediators.
Both stressors predicted poorer functioning, with post-migration stress substantially stronger than trauma exposure (b = .40 vs. .17). Sense of coherence was the strongest correlate of functioning (r = -.57) and statistically mediated both cross-sectional associations. In the parallel mediation, sense of coherence and post-migration stress mediated the trauma-functioning association, and the direct effect was no longer statistically significant once both were included. Family-oriented stressors dominated the burden profile: worries about family in the country of origin (78.8%), missing family (73.5%), and uncertainty about the future (70.9%).
As a personal-resilience construct shaped by - not insulated from - external conditions, sense of coherence warrants sustained attention in this population.
Authors
Nolan Nolan, Vos Coronato Vos Coronato, van Sint Fiet van Sint Fiet, Wind Wind, de la Rie de la Rie
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