The impact of enhancing perceived self-efficacy in torture survivors

Abstract

Background: Perceived self-efficacy (SE) is an important factor underlying psychological wellbeing. Refugees suffer many experiences that can compromise SE. This study tested the impact of enhancing perceived SE on coping with trauma reminders and distress tolerance in tortured refugees. Methods:Torture survivors (N = 40) were administered a positive SE induction in which they retrieved mastery-related autobiographical memories, or a non-SE (NSE) induction, and then viewed trauma-related images. Participants rated their distress following presentation of each image. Participants then completed a frustration-inducing mirror-tracing task to index distress tolerance.Results: Participants in the SE condition reported less distress and negative affect, and improved coping in relation to viewing the trauma-related images than those in the NSE condition. The SE induction also led to greater persistence with the mirror-tracing task than the NSE induction. Conclusions:These findings provide initial evidence that promoting SE in tortured refugees can assist with managing distress from trauma reminders, and promoting greater distress tolerance.Enhancing perceived SE in tortured refugees may increase their capacity to tolerate distress during therapy, and may be a useful means to improve treatment response. K E Y W O R D S

Believing is achieving: a longitudinal study of self-efficacy and positive affect in resettled refugees

“…It is therefore not surprising that task-specific and general self-efficacy correlate (Sherer et al 1982). More importantly, Morina et al (2017) managed to successfully manipulate general self-efficacy in Turkish refugees in Switzerland, suggesting that general self-efficacy in refugees is a state which can be improved (this study is described in further detail below). Pahud et al (2009) argued that the role of self-efficacy should be investigated in relation to the extent to which refugees manage to overcome adverse circumstances; however, to date there has been very limited research on the link between self-efficacy and wellbeing in refugees specifically.…”

“…Of course, the qualitative nature of this research makes it difficult to infer causality. Some initial evidence on the causal link between self-efficacy and wellbeing among refugees has been found in research of an experimental design with 40 Turkish refugees seeking treatment as victims of torture in Switzerland (Morina et al 2017). In this study, torture survivors were given either a positive self-efficacy induction, where they were instructed to talk about something positive they had achieved in their lives, or a neutral induction, where they were instructed to talk about a common, neutral activity.…”

“…That is, Sulaiman-Hill and Thompson (2013) looked at subjective wellbeing using a questionnaire that focuses on the extent to which people are satisfied with their lives as a whole. Alharbi (2017) investigated feelings of psychological security, Kia-Keating and Ellis (2007) focussed on depressive symptoms, Yang (2014) looked at symptoms of both anxiety and depression, while Morina et al (2017) used negative affect. In the current study, the positive affect will be used as an indicator of wellbeing.…”

Barriers to access to outpatient mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland: the therapist’s view

“…The perspectives of psychiatrists and psychotherapists working in an outpatient mental health care setting have yet to be investigated or considered in discussions related to mental health care provision to refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland. Previous studies were based primarily on data obtained from refugees and asylum seekers and did not focus on the providers of mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland [6,13,14,27,29,30,36,41,[54][55][56][57]. Only six studies assessed the opinions of health or social workers or caregivers [4,34,35,40,42,58].…”

Prolonged Grief Disorder Among Refugees in Psychological Treatment—Association With Self-Efficacy and Emotion Regulation

“…The role of self-efficacy in adaptation after both a violent (34) and nonviolent loss of a loved one (35,36) has been established in nonrefugee samples. Whereas self-efficacy has been considered a relevant variable among refugees due to its positive association with mental health and well-being (37,38), its relationship to PGD remains unknown. Emotion regulation can be defined as one's ability to monitor, assess, and modulate experienced emotions in order to facilitate adaptive functioning (39).…”