Neuner Frank, Mohammed Rezhna
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec;16(1):2546197. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2546197. Epub 2025 Sep 4.
Refugees who have experienced war and persecution often suffer from psychological disorders resulting from adverse events and living conditions. Current theories of traumatic stress focus on processes resulting from threats to physical integrity, with little consideration of social stressors. In this study, we proposed that perceptions of social devaluation, which include specific emotions, appraisals, physiological responses, and behavioural impulses associated with devaluation, partially mediate the relationship between stress and psychological symptoms in refugees. We measured social devaluation in a survey of 511 Syrian refugees living in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and related it to social and physical stressors and symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress. Using structural equation modelling, we confirmed the proposed mediating role of social devaluation in the relationship between social and traumatic stressors and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. This study suggests that populations experiencing high levels of adversity may develop psychopathology not only due to psychological trauma caused by physical threats, but also due to processes of social traumatisation involving perceptions of devaluation.
经历过战争和迫害的难民常常患有由不良事件和生活条件导致的心理障碍。当前关于创伤应激的理论侧重于身体完整性受到威胁所引发的过程，而很少考虑社会应激源。在本研究中，我们提出社会贬值感，包括与贬值相关的特定情绪、评估、生理反应和行为冲动，在一定程度上介导了难民压力与心理症状之间的关系。我们在对居住在伊拉克库尔德地区的511名叙利亚难民进行的一项调查中测量了社会贬值感，并将其与社会和身体应激源以及抑郁和创伤后应激症状联系起来。通过结构方程模型，我们证实了社会贬值感在社会应激源和创伤应激源与创伤后应激和抑郁症状之间的关系中所提出的中介作用。这项研究表明，经历高度逆境的人群可能不仅由于身体威胁导致的心理创伤，还由于涉及贬值感的社会创伤过程而产生精神病理学问题。
