Attachment, emotion regulation, and their roles in refugee post-traumatic stress and post-migration living difficulties.
Eur J Psychotraumatol
; 15(1): 2400834, 2024.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39391943
ABSTRACT
Background:
Upon arrival in the host country, refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) experience a range of post-migration living difficulties (PMLD), which are often linked to psychological symptoms such as post-traumatic stress (PTS). Initial research suggests that attachment insecurity partly explains the association between PMLD and psychological symptoms in RAS. However, the mechanisms through which attachment insecurity may act as a mediator are not well understood, though emotion dysregulation is one of the potential candidates.Objectives:
This study investigated (1) whether attachment insecurity (i.e. anxiety and avoidance) mediate the association between PMLD and PTS, and (2) whether this mediation model can be extended to emotion dysregulation.Methods:
134 treatment-seeking RAS living in Switzerland completed questionnaires assessing PMLD, attachment insecurity, emotion dysregulation, and PTS. Two models were tested (1) a parallel mediation analysis with attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators, and (2) a serial mediation analysis with attachment anxiety as the first and emotion dysregulation as the second mediator.Results:
First, PMLD was indirectly associated with PTS through attachment anxiety but not avoidance. Second, the association between PMLD and PTS was further explained by a pathway through attachment anxiety and emotion dysregulation.Conclusions:
Although this study is limited by its cross-sectional design, we identified attachment anxiety and emotion dysregulation as potential mechanisms explaining how PMLD affects symptoms of PTS in RAS. Systematically assessing attachment style and addressing emotion regulation may therefore help improve treatment of refugee and asylum-seeking patients.
Attachment anxiety but not avoidance mediated the relationship between post-migration living difficulties and post-traumatic stress through emotion dysregulation in treatment-seeking refugees and asylum seekers.Attachment and emotion regulation are important psychological processes to consider when studying refugee mental health.Systematically assessing attachment style and addressing emotion regulation may help improve treatment of refugee and asylum-seeking patients.
Palavras-chave
Refugees; Refugiados; apego; asylum seekers; attachment; desplazados por la fuerza; dificultades de convivencia post migración; emotion regulation; estrés post migración; estrés postraumático; forcibly displaced; inseguridad de apego; post-migration living difficulties; post-migration stress; post-traumatic stress; regulación de las emociones; solicitantes de asilo; trastorno de estrés postraumático
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Refugiados
/
Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos
/
Regulação Emocional
/
Apego ao Objeto
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Psychotraumatol
/
European journal of psychotraumatology
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suíça
País de publicação:
Estados Unidos