Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Front Public Health. 2024 Oct 9;12:1432205. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1432205. eCollection 2024.
The Syrian civil war is considered as the greatest humanitarian crisis in modern history, which has resulted in a major refugee crisis. A significant concern is the high prevalence of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Syrian refugees. While the focus of most refugee mental health research has been pre-migration trauma, post-migration challenges and stressors, which can also be significant determinants of mental health, are often ignored. The purpose of this study was to assess mental health of Syrian refugees as compared to local Jordanians, and to examine sociodemographic factors and perceived stressors that are associated with mental distress among participants.
This was a cross sectional study conducted in northern region of Jordan among Syrian refugee and Jordanian adults. We used the validated Arabic version of Afghan Symptoms Checklist (ASC) to assess mental distress among participants.
A total of 929 subjects (43% Syrian refugees, 56% females) participated in this study. Disparities in education, monthly income, and health insurance were significant between Syrian refugees and Jordanians, < 0.001. The mean score in ASC was significantly higher among Syrian refugees, particularly among refugee females (mean ASC score ± standard deviation: Syrian refugee females: 58.22 ± 1.13; Syrian refugee males: 45.31 ± 1.28; Jordanian females: 51.06 ± 0.91; Jordanian males: 46.45 ± 1.08, = 0.002). Multivariable linear regression showed that the estimated difference in the mean of ASC score between males and females is 7.42 ( < 0.001), and the estimated mean difference between Syrian refugees and Jordanians is 2.76 ( = 0.019). Interestingly, the estimated mean of ASC scores for individuals with high education level is decreased by 4.18 as compared to individuals with lower education level (high school or less), < 0.001.
Education level was highly predictable of mental distress of Syrian refugees, particularly female refugees. Enhancing higher educational opportunities is proposed for improving socioeconomic status of refugees which might serve as a buffering strategy for mental distress among this vulnerable population.
叙利亚内战被认为是现代历史上最严重的人道主义危机，由此导致了大规模的难民危机。一个令人关注的问题是，叙利亚难民中普遍存在抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）等精神障碍。尽管大多数难民心理健康研究的重点是移民前创伤，但移民后的挑战和压力源也可能是心理健康的重要决定因素，而这些因素往往被忽视。本研究旨在评估叙利亚难民的心理健康状况，并与当地约旦人进行比较，同时研究与参与者心理困扰相关的社会人口学因素和感知压力源。
这是一项在约旦北部地区进行的横断面研究，对象为叙利亚难民和成年约旦人。我们使用经过验证的阿拉伯语版阿富汗症状检查表（ASC）评估参与者的心理困扰。
共有 929 名参与者（43%为叙利亚难民，56%为女性）参与了这项研究。在教育程度、月收入和医疗保险方面，叙利亚难民与约旦人存在显著差异，<0.001。ASC 的平均得分在叙利亚难民中显著更高，尤其是在难民女性中（难民女性的 ASC 平均得分±标准差：58.22±1.13；难民男性：45.31±1.28；约旦女性：51.06±0.91；约旦男性：46.45±1.08，=0.002）。多变量线性回归显示，男女 ASC 得分均值差异估计值为 7.42（<0.001），叙利亚难民和约旦人之间的平均差异估计值为 2.76（=0.019）。有趣的是，与教育程度较低（中学或以下）的个体相比，教育程度较高的个体 ASC 得分的平均估计值降低了 4.18，<0.001。
教育程度是预测叙利亚难民心理困扰的重要因素，尤其是对女性难民。建议为难民提供更多的高等教育机会，以提高他们的社会经济地位，这可能是缓解这一弱势群体心理困扰的缓冲策略。
