The Role of Religious and Spiritual Factors in Coping with Psychosocial Problems in Refugee Adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is a challenging time when individuals experience rapid physical, emotional, and spiritual changes. This period may bring both opportunities and challenges. The situation may become more difficult when adolescents live in difficult circumstances, such as migration. Spending adolescence in refugee circumstances can lead to negative and traumatic situations for adolescents. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychosocial adjustment of refugee adolescents and to determine how they deal with trauma and negative experiences and how they cope with negative situations. This study aimed to understand the extent to which adolescent refugees who struggle with psychosocial problems resort to religious and spiritual methods and what coping styles they implement. Therefore, qualitative research was conducted through semistructured interviews with 50 adolescent refugees aged 11-19 years from different neighborhoods of Istanbul. To ensure the homogeneity of the study, attention was given to the age of the participants and to include both male and female participants. According to the results of the study, the most common psychosocial problems to which refugee adolescents are exposed are witnessing war, death, the loss of loved ones, and being forced to migrate. The participants had issues related to security, basic human needs, health, education, and housing. However, refugee adolescents were likely to use positive coping styles, including praying, reading the Qurʾān, gratitude, patience, and attributing good. The findings show that religious and spiritual factors are important for refugee adolescents’ attempts to cope with psychosocial problems. In addition, positive religious coping styles are significant for posttraumatic growth and development.