School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, NSW, Australia.
HOST International, 31 Grose Street, Parramatta, NSW, Australia.
J Anxiety Disord. 2023 Mar;94:102672. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102672. Epub 2023 Jan 16.
The vast majority of the 100 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide live in a state of prolonged uncertainty with limited resettlement prospects and access to resources. Little is known, however, regarding how refugees and asylum-seekers cope with this uncertainty.
In this study, we investigated the longitudinal association between a measure of how people cope with uncertainty (intolerance of uncertainty (IU)), fears for the future, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and depression symptoms. A sample of 1,237 refugees displaced in Indonesia completed an online survey in Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Somali or English at two time-points six-months apart.
Results indicated that greater IU-inhibitory anxiety (IU-IA or impairment related to uncertainty) was associated with subsequent increases in PTSD and depression symptoms and fears for the future. Greater PTSD symptoms and fears for the future were associated with increases in IU-prospective anxiety (IU-PA or distress related to uncertainty), and greater depression symptoms were associated with increases in IU-IA.
These findings provide evidence for the mechanistic role of IU in psychological symptoms amongst displaced refugees. Results underscore the importance of policies to reduce uncertainty in displacement environments, and highlight IU as a potential intervention target to help refugees cope with protracted displacement.
全世界有 1 亿被迫流离失所者，他们中的绝大多数人生活在一种长期不确定的状态中，安置前景有限，获得资源的机会也有限。然而，对于难民和寻求庇护者如何应对这种不确定性，我们知之甚少。
在这项研究中，我们调查了人们应对不确定性的一种衡量方法（不确定性容忍度（IU））与对未来的恐惧、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状和抑郁症状之间的纵向关联。在印度尼西亚流离失所的 1237 名难民中，有一个样本在六个月的时间里，用阿拉伯语、波斯语、达里语、索马里语或英语在线完成了一份调查。
结果表明，更大的 IU 抑制性焦虑（IU-IA 或与不确定性相关的障碍）与随后 PTSD 和抑郁症状以及对未来的恐惧增加有关。更大的 PTSD 症状和对未来的恐惧与 IU 前瞻性焦虑（IU-PA 或与不确定性相关的痛苦）增加有关，而更大的抑郁症状与 IU-IA 增加有关。
这些发现为 IU 在流离失所难民的心理症状中的机制作用提供了证据。研究结果强调了减少流离失所环境中不确定性的政策的重要性，并强调了 IU 作为帮助难民应对长期流离失所的潜在干预目标的重要性。
