Pittaway Troy, Dantas Jaya A R
Curtin School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia.
Health Promot Int. 2022 Apr 29;37(2). doi: 10.1093/heapro/daab100.
In this article, the use of sport as a coping strategy by South Sudanese youth who have suffered the trauma of forced migration is examined. This article explores the relationship that has emerged between the young people and sport, in particular basketball, and how they use their participation in basketball and sports to cope with the stressors of their lives. The research intended to explore to what degree sport can play in improving mental health and what mental health interventions, in general, were being sought by this marginalized demographic. This qualitative study was underpinned by the psychosocial conceptual framework. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 23 South Sudanese youth aged 14-21 years, we also conducted focus groups of 11 South Sudanese elders and parents. The results of this research were feed back to the wider South Sudanese community through two forums. The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study identified sport as an important coping strategy for the participants, both as a diversion from drug and alcohol misuse, potential criminal activity and as a way to self-manage the symptoms of anxiety and depression they were experiencing, and a mechanism to enhance self-worth. The study also indicated there was a lack of mental health interventions for these young people and that they had shown a great deal of resilience to develop their own ways to deal with the trauma they had experienced. The research reported positive associations of wellbeing and participation in sport, however more research needs to be conducted to ascertain the extent to which sport impacts mental health and how this can be incorporated into interventions for Sudanese youth and young people from similar forced migration and resettlement backgrounds. This study suggested that sport can be a driving force of good for many of the young people's lives, worthy of further research.
在本文中，我们考察了遭受被迫迁移创伤的南苏丹青年将运动作为应对策略的情况。本文探讨了这些年轻人与运动，尤其是篮球之间所形成的关系，以及他们如何通过参与篮球和其他运动来应对生活中的压力源。该研究旨在探究运动在改善心理健康方面能发挥多大作用，以及这个边缘化群体一般在寻求何种心理健康干预措施。这项定性研究以社会心理概念框架为基础。我们对23名年龄在14至21岁之间的南苏丹青年进行了半结构化访谈，还组织了由11名南苏丹长辈和父母参加的焦点小组讨论。这项研究的结果通过两个论坛反馈给了更广泛的南苏丹社区。所收集的数据采用主题分析法进行了分析。研究结果表明，运动对参与者来说是一种重要的应对策略，它既可以转移对药物和酒精滥用以及潜在犯罪活动的注意力，也是自我管理他们所经历的焦虑和抑郁症状的一种方式，还是增强自我价值感的一种机制。该研究还表明，这些年轻人缺乏心理健康干预措施，并且他们展现出了很强的适应能力，自行摸索出应对所经历创伤的方法。该研究报告了幸福感与参与运动之间的积极关联，然而，还需要开展更多研究，以确定运动对心理健康的影响程度，以及如何将其纳入针对苏丹青年以及来自类似被迫迁移和重新安置背景的年轻人的干预措施中。这项研究表明，运动可以成为许多年轻人生活中的一股积极力量，值得进一步研究。
