Ecological and environmental factors shaping refugee resilience: a longitudinal analysis

Forced migration and resettlement often expose refugees to severe and ongoing stress, leading to an elevated prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in these populations. Ecological models demonstrate that both intrapersonal and environmental factors contribute to psychological risk and resilience - and that these dynamics may evolve over time. To identify potentially modifiable contextual predictors of refugee mental health, this longitudinal study investigated environmental factors associated with symptom change over time in refugees during resettlement.

Syrian and Iraqi adults (n = 344) reported postmigration living difficulties (PMLDs), environmental quality, socioeconomic factors, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression at three time points over 7 years following arrival in the United States. Linear mixed effects-modeling (LMM) was used to identify associations between environmental variables and symptom trajectories.

LMM identified lower subjective social status and higher PMLDs as predictors of more severe PTSD symptom trajectories. Greater anxiety symptoms over time were associated with lower environmental quality and higher PMLDs, while more severe depression symptom trajectories were linked to unemployment, lower subjective social status, lower environmental quality.

The salience of socioeconomic status, environmental quality, and daily living stressors in shaping refugee mental health is consistent with an ecological approach to supporting resilience following adversity. These insights may be leveraged to design individual-, community-, and society-level interventions in partnership with refugee stakeholders.