TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Post Migration Life Difficulties for Future Aspirations of Iraqi and Syrian Asylum Seekers
AU - Demirli Yıldız, Aylin
AU - Strohmeier, Dagmar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/4/1
Y1 - 2024/4/1
N2 - The majority of asylum seekers experience some kind of traumatic events before or during their flight and their challenging experiences do not end after resettlement. Still, they need to envision and build their future life in the host country. Moreover, asylum seekers’ future aspirations need to be differentiated from the satisfaction of essential needs. We (1) measured future aspirations (FA); (2) explored whether FA and post-migration life difficulties (PMLD) differ between asylum seekers with high and low levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS); and (3) examined whether PTSS, PMLD, gender, age, and length of stay are associated with different types of FA. In total, 139 Iraqi and Syrian asylum seekers (55 female, 83 male) aged 18 to 67 years (M = 34.03, SD = 10.35) participated. A four-factor structure of FA was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Participants with high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms reported higher levels of PMLD and lower levels of FA related to their home country. FA related to the host country and FA related to occupation were predicted by lower levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms, while future aspirations related to the home country were predicted by higher levels of PMLD. Results indicate that asylum seekers who experienced more traumatic events before they migrated are more reluctant to return to these places in the future. Treating the psychological impairments of this highly vulnerable group and relaxing the manifold structural barriers are crucial to foster their construction of a future life.
AB - The majority of asylum seekers experience some kind of traumatic events before or during their flight and their challenging experiences do not end after resettlement. Still, they need to envision and build their future life in the host country. Moreover, asylum seekers’ future aspirations need to be differentiated from the satisfaction of essential needs. We (1) measured future aspirations (FA); (2) explored whether FA and post-migration life difficulties (PMLD) differ between asylum seekers with high and low levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS); and (3) examined whether PTSS, PMLD, gender, age, and length of stay are associated with different types of FA. In total, 139 Iraqi and Syrian asylum seekers (55 female, 83 male) aged 18 to 67 years (M = 34.03, SD = 10.35) participated. A four-factor structure of FA was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Participants with high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms reported higher levels of PMLD and lower levels of FA related to their home country. FA related to the host country and FA related to occupation were predicted by lower levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms, while future aspirations related to the home country were predicted by higher levels of PMLD. Results indicate that asylum seekers who experienced more traumatic events before they migrated are more reluctant to return to these places in the future. Treating the psychological impairments of this highly vulnerable group and relaxing the manifold structural barriers are crucial to foster their construction of a future life.
KW - asylum seekers
KW - future aspirations
KW - post-migration life difficulties
KW - post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
KW - post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)
KW - refugees
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192077238&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/21582440241244698
DO - 10.1177/21582440241244698
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85192077238
SN - 2158-2440
VL - 14
JO - SAGE Open
JF - SAGE Open
IS - 2
ER -