Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Am J Community Psychol. 2020 Jun;65(3-4):272-289. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12418. Epub 2020 Feb 17.
Understanding processes that support the well-being of the unprecedented numbers of forcibly displaced people throughout the world is essential. Growing evidence documents post-migration stressors related to marginalization as key social determinants of refugee mental health. The goal of this RCT was to rigorously test a social justice approach to reducing high rates of distress among refugees in the United States. The 6-month multilevel, strengths-based Refugee Well-being Project (RWP) intervention brought together university students enrolled in a 2-semester course and recently resettled refugees to engage in mutual learning and collaborative efforts to mobilize community resources and improve community and systems responsiveness to refugees. Data collected from 290 Afghan, Great Lakes African, Iraqi, and Syrian refugees at four time points over 12 months were used to test the effectiveness of RWP to reduce distress (depression and anxiety symptoms) and increase protective factors (English proficiency, social support, connection to home and American cultures). Intention-to-treat analyses using multilevel modeling revealed significant intervention effects for all hypothesized outcomes. Results provide evidence to support social justice approaches to improving refugee mental health. Findings have implications for refugees worldwide, and for other immigrant and marginalized populations who experience inequities in resources and disproportionate exposure to trauma/stress.
了解支持全球前所未有数量的被迫流离失所者福祉的过程至关重要。越来越多的证据表明，与边缘化有关的后迁移压力源是难民心理健康的关键社会决定因素。这项 RCT 的目标是严格测试一种社会公正方法，以减少美国难民中高比例的痛苦。为期 6 个月的多层次、以优势为基础的难民福祉项目 (RWP) 干预措施将在一学期课程中注册的大学生和最近重新安置的难民聚集在一起，共同学习并共同努力调动社区资源，提高社区和系统对难民的响应能力。在 12 个月的四个时间点上，从 290 名阿富汗、大湖非洲、伊拉克和叙利亚难民那里收集的数据用于测试 RWP 减少痛苦（抑郁和焦虑症状）和增加保护因素（英语水平、社会支持、与原籍国和美国文化的联系）的有效性。使用多层次建模的意向性治疗分析显示，所有假设结果都有显著的干预效果。研究结果为改善难民心理健康的社会公正方法提供了证据。研究结果对全球范围内的难民以及其他资源不平等和不成比例地遭受创伤/压力的移民和边缘化人群具有重要意义。
