Elashmawy Ahmed, Abou-Rass Noor, Nashef Raya, Saad Bassem, Javanbakht Arash, Grasser Lana Ruvolo
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
J Trauma Stress. 2025 Jun;38(3):479-488. doi: 10.1002/jts.23147. Epub 2025 Mar 19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global physical, mental, and public health and disproportionately affected refugee youth. Novel stressors, like a global pandemic, may compound previous stress and trauma exposure. We aimed to test the "challenge model of resilience" (i.e., moderate exposure to adversity may confer resilience to future stressors) and assess COVID-19-related stress severity in youth resettled in the United States as refugees of Syria (N = 66, M = 12.72 years). We recruited youth aged 10-17 years who had been previously screened for trauma exposure and conducted virtual assessments on COVID-19-related stress, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and anxiety symptoms between March 2021 and March 2022. An ANCOVA adjusted for age, posttraumatic stress, and anxiety indicated a significant dose-response effect of trauma on current COVID-19-related stress, F(2, 58) = 6.67, p = .002, h = .19. Youth exposed to high doses of adversity reported more distress than those exposed to low-to-moderate, p = .007, and no-to-minimal, p = .006, doses. Although youth exposed to low-to-moderate doses reported slightly less distress than those who reported no-to-minimal exposure, post hoc comparisons indicated that this contrast was nonsignificant. Our findings partially support the challenge model of resilience; however, the small size and homogeneity of the sample preclude generalization to other cohorts of stress-exposed youth. Regular screening for traumatic life events in youth could prompt early intervention to mitigate longer-term impacts. Increased integration of positive health-promoting programs in schools and communities that teach stress coping strategies could confer resilience to youth regardless of exposure level.
新冠疫情对全球的身体、心理和公共卫生都产生了重大影响，对难民青年的影响尤为严重。像全球疫情这样的新型压力源，可能会使先前遭受的压力和创伤更加复杂。我们旨在检验“复原力挑战模型”（即适度暴露于逆境可能会使人对未来的压力源产生复原力），并评估作为叙利亚难民在美国重新安置的青年（N = 66，M = 12.72岁）与新冠疫情相关的压力严重程度。我们招募了年龄在10至17岁之间、之前已接受过创伤暴露筛查的青年，并在2021年3月至2022年3月期间对他们进行了关于新冠疫情相关压力、创伤后应激症状和焦虑症状的虚拟评估。一项对年龄、创伤后应激和焦虑进行调整的协方差分析表明，创伤对当前与新冠疫情相关的压力存在显著的剂量反应效应，F(2, 58) = 6.67，p = .002，h = .19。暴露于高剂量逆境的青年比暴露于低至中等剂量（p = .007）和无至最小剂量（p = .006）的青年报告了更多的痛苦。虽然暴露于低至中等剂量的青年报告的痛苦略少于那些报告无至最小暴露的青年，但事后比较表明这种差异不显著。我们的研究结果部分支持复原力挑战模型；然而，样本规模小且同质性高，无法推广到其他遭受压力的青年群体。对青年的创伤性生活事件进行定期筛查可以促使早期干预，以减轻长期影响。在学校和社区增加积极的健康促进项目，教授压力应对策略，无论暴露水平如何，都可以增强青年的复原力。
