Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado, Sevilla, Spain.
Health Soc Care Community. 2020 Jan;28(1):127-136. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12847. Epub 2019 Sep 2.
Various international organisations have identified the development of programmes that mitigate the negative impact that forced displacement has on refugees' mental health as a priority intervention area. From this perspective, this study seeks to lend empirical support to a community-based pilot intervention aimed at promoting posttraumatic growth (PTG) among refugee adults arrived to Seville, the capital of Andalucía (southern Spain). PTG constitutes a mental health indicator that refers to the positive personal transformations refugees undergo as a consequence of experiencing forced displacement. This concept does not negate the undeniable personal suffering forced displacement causes for refugees; rather, it focuses on the positive changes this event has the potential to bring about. Forty-seven individuals (age, M = 33 years; 20 women) from several countries in conflict participated in the intervention over 15 weeks (March-June 2017). The implementation process comprised two phases: (a) training a group of settled refugees to become peer mentors; and (b) holding cultural peer-support group sessions made up of newly arrived refugees led by the mentors. Following quantitative and qualitative data collection (using the 'Posttraumatic Growth Inventory' (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1996, 9, 455) and participants' written evaluations and comments, respectively), and adopting a pretest-posttest evaluation design, significant improvements were found in four of the five PTG factors: 'appreciation of life', 'personal strength', 'relating to others' and 'new possibilities'. However, no significant differences were observed for 'spiritual change'. We also documented implementation outcomes which revealed high intervention acceptability, appropriateness and feasibility. This study highlights how PTG shown by the refugee population can be actively improved through a community-based intervention, specifically by creating supportive community settings that adopt a mentorship and peer-based approach. The limitations and contributions of this research that address the current challenges behind promoting the mental health of refugees in places of settlement are discussed.
各种国际组织都已将制定方案作为优先干预领域，这些方案旨在减轻被迫流离失所对难民心理健康的负面影响。从这个角度来看，本研究旨在为一个以社区为基础的试点干预措施提供实证支持，该干预措施旨在促进抵达西班牙南部安达卢西亚首府塞维利亚的成年难民创伤后成长（PTG）。PTG 是心理健康的一个指标，它指的是难民因被迫流离失所而经历的积极的个人转变。这个概念并没有否定被迫流离失所给难民带来的不可否认的个人痛苦；相反，它关注的是这一事件有可能带来的积极变化。来自多个冲突国家的 47 名参与者（年龄，M=33 岁；20 名女性）参加了为期 15 周（2017 年 3 月至 6 月）的干预措施。实施过程包括两个阶段：（a）培训一群定居的难民成为同伴导师；（b）由导师领导，由新抵达的难民组成的文化同伴支持小组会议。在收集了定量和定性数据（分别使用创伤后成长量表（PTGI；Tedeschi & Calhoun，《创伤应激杂志》，1996，9，455）和参与者的书面评估和意见），并采用了前测后测评估设计之后，发现五个 PTG 因素中的四个因素有了显著的改善：“欣赏生活”、“个人力量”、“与他人的关系”和“新的可能性”。然而，“精神变化”方面没有显著差异。我们还记录了实施结果，结果显示该干预措施的接受度、适宜性和可行性都很高。本研究强调了如何通过以社区为基础的干预措施，特别是通过创建支持性的社区环境，采用导师制和同伴制方法，积极改善难民群体的 PTG。讨论了这项研究的局限性和贡献，以应对当前在安置地促进难民心理健康方面面临的挑战。
