Gendered Sources of Distress and Resilience among Afghan Refugees in Northern California: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Recent studies have emphasized the influence of resettlement factors on the mental health of refugees resettling in developed countries. However, little research has addressed gender differences in the nature and influence of resettlement stressors and sources of resilience. We address this gap in knowledge by investigating how gender moderates and mediates the influence of several sources of distress and resilience among 259 Afghan refugees residing in Northern California (USA). Gender moderated the effects of four factors on levels of distress. Intimate and extended family ties have little correlation with men's distress levels, but are strongly associated with lower distress for women. English ability is positively associated with lower distress for women, but not men. In terms of gender ideology, traditionally oriented women and egalitarian men have lower levels of distress. And experiencing greater dissonant acculturation increases distress for men, but not women. The influence of gender interaction terms is substantial and patterns may reflect difficulty adapting to a different gender order. Future studies of similar populations should investigate gender differences in sources of distress and resilience, and efforts to assist new arrivals might inform them of changes in gender roles they may experience, and facilitate opportunities to renegotiate gender roles.

Representation of gender in migrant health studies – a systematic review of the social epidemiological literature

“…The qualitative synthesis of the gender effects on health outcomes indicated as expected that stronger adherence to traditional gender norms [62,66,70,71,77,78,81,92,94,102], higher levels of gender inequality [64,100,103], gender-based discrimination [63, 65, 67, 76, 82-88, 91, 93, 95] or gender-based violence [61,77,98] are associated with adverse health outcomes. Four studies showed that gender effects only manifested in interaction with other variables.…”

“…1 Flowchart of study selection process toward women [66,69,98]), 7 toward men and women (e.g. Bem-Sex-Role Inventory, sexism, double standards, sharing household responsibilities) [61,62,75,92,94,96,97], and 5 towards homosexuality [72,81,90,91]. Gender-based discrimination was almost exclusively related to sexual orientation, measuring experiences and internalisation of homosexual or transsexual stigma [63, 65, 67, 68, 72, 76, 80, 82-88, 93, 95, 99].…”

“…63, 65, 66, 70-75, 82-84, 87-92, 95, 97]. The second largest region of origin is Asia and the Pacific (n = 7)[69,79,81,94,98,99,102], one study referred to East and Western African migrants…”

Discrimination and distress among Afghan refugees in northern California: The moderating role of pre- and post-migration factors

“…The present paper aims to extend knowledge in this area based on data collected between 2007–2008 from current and former Afghan refugees resettled in northern California. It is worth mentioning that in a previous publication, we used this dataset to examine gendered sources of distress [ 31 ]. Though here we examine the extent to which Afghans perceive experiencing discriminatory acts, how this affects their mental health, and whether the stress associated with perceived discrimination is moderated by the effects of pre-migration traumas and a number of post-resettlement factors.…”

Economic integration of Afghan refugees in the US, 1980-2015

“…Also, many Afghans come from regions with more 'traditional' or patriarchal gender orders that likely shape family economic strategies and women's economic integration in the US. Prior research shows that solid majorities of Afghans in the US support more egalitarian gender roles, yet there is a substantial minority of gender traditionalists, and egalitarian female Afghans may be less able to actualise their ideals than other immigrant and refugee groups (Stempel et al 2016). Finally, while we are focusing on economic outcomes in this study, we should remain cognisant of two-way causality-economic factors (unemployment, low income) may exacerbate Afghans' overall adjustment and mental distress (Bogic, Njoku, and Priebe 2015).…”