Coping strategies and stress among resettled Bhutanese adults in Massachusetts

Stress associated with attempts to integrate into a new culture is directly linked to mental health outcomes among refugees. However, there is a paucity of literature on how refugees cope to reduce their stress. This study assessed the association between coping strategies and perceived stress among resettled Bhutanese adults in Western Massachusetts. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 225 Bhutanese (men: 113, women: 112) refugees aged 20-65 years residing in Massachusetts. Coping was measured with the 32-item Tobin Coping-Strategies Inventory-Short Form (CSI-SF). The 32-item CSI-SF includes 8 subscales: problem-solving, cognitive-structuring, express-emotions, social-contact, problem-avoidance, wishful thinking, self-criticism, and social-withdrawal, each with 4 items. Four composite constructs were created from subscales, namely, problem-focused engagement (problem solving + cognitive structuring), emotion-focused engagement (express emotions + social contact), problem-focused disengagement (problem avoidance + wishful thinking), and emotion-focused disengagement (self-criticism + social withdrawal). Perceived stress was measured with the 10-item Cohen Perceived Stress Scale. Associations of coping scores with perceived stress score (PSS) were assessed using multiple linear-regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors. The coping scores of 4 subscales were inversely associated with PSS including problem solving (β = -0.430, p ≤ .0001), cognitive structuring (β = -0.416, p = .0002), express emotions (β = -0.292, p = .004), and social contact (β = -0.448, p ≤ .0001). Two composite constructs of subscales, namely, problem-focused (β = -0.236, p ≤ .0001) and emotion-focused (β = -0.199, p = .0003) engagement coping strategies were inversely associated with PSS. Greater use of problem- or emotion-focused engagement coping strategies was associated with reduced PSS among Bhutanese, suggesting that problem-focused or emotion-focused stress management interventions hold promise for stress reduction among resettled Bhutanese. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).