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                            Library & Multimedia
 The role of discrimination, assimilation, and gender in the mental health of resettled Somali young adults: A longitudinal, moderated mediation analysis
NCJ Number
              307211

Author(s)
          Sarah Gillespie;
                        Jeffrey P. Winer;
                        Osob Issa;
                        B. Heidi Ellis
Date Published

2023
Length
              12 pages
Annotation
              This longitudinal study analyzed the role of discrimination, assimilation, and gender in the mental health of resettled Somali young adults.
Abstract
              Experiences of marginalization may erode connections to both the Somali community and to the nation of resettlement; interventions targeted at the receiving community to reduce the rates of discrimination toward immigrants and refugees and interventions to strengthen youth’s sense of belonging in both the predominant culture and their culture of origin may improve transdiagnostic mental health outcomes. Acculturation styles have important associations with future adjustment among immigrants and refugees, yet less is known about the individual and interpersonal factors that influence the strategy an individual adopts. High rates of discrimination may signal the receiving community’s rejection of one’s ethnic group, increasing pressure to assimilate and suppress one’s heritage identity. Within a sample of Somali young adults (18–30, N = 185) resettled in North America, this study tested whether two acculturation styles (assimilation and integration) longitudinally mediate the relation between discrimination and three mental health outcomes (i.e., anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder), and whether gender moderated these relations. Discrimination had a direct, positive relation with future mental health symptoms for females, which was not mediated by acculturation strategy. By contrast, the association between discrimination and mental health outcomes for males was fully mediated by increased endorsement of assimilation, but not integration. Experiences of marginalization may erode connections to both the Somali community and to the nation of resettlement, which have been identified as particularly strong protective forces within this community. Interventions targeted at the receiving community to reduce the rates of discrimination toward immigrants and refugees and interventions to strengthen youth’s sense of belonging in both the predominant culture and their culture of origin may improve transdiagnostic mental health outcomes. (Published Abstract Provided)
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2012-ZA-BX-0004


  
  
        
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        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Research (Applied/Empirical)


  
  
        
  Award
        Understanding Pathways to and away from Violent Radicalization among Resettled Somali Refugees
    
  
  
Date Published: January 1, 2023
    
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                Social and Behavioral Science
        Research and development
        Sex
        Young adults (18-24)
        Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)



  
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