Beyond depressive symptoms: conceptualizing social suffering among displaced Syrians in Lebanon

Laura Hertner, Dana Abdel-Fatah, Emily Frank and Ulrike Kluge

EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, 2026, vol. 14, No 1844218, 15 pages

Abstract: [Background:] Mental burden is largely conceptualized through mental illness, yet it can manifest beyond diagnostic categories. We contend that social suffering requires separate consideration, as it frames mental burden through intersubjective, collective, and power dynamics, while centering its inextricable link to social and political injustice. Lebanon offers a relevant setting, hosting Syrian refugees amid economic crisis and intermittent armed conflict. [Objective:] We assess social suffering with the novel feeling broken or destroyed scale (FBD) and compare it with a standard mental health screening instrument for depressive symptoms, namely the patient health questionnaire (PHQ). We contend that both these complementary notions of social suffering and depressive symptoms measure separate, though related, aspects of mental burden and warrant attention. [Methods:] Using data from the TRANSMIT survey collected among Syrians ( N = 1,228) in Lebanon (Oct–Dec 2023), we conducted a regression analysis comparing the predictors FBD and PHQ and explored each construct's sensitivity for the broader socio-political context. Conceptually overlapping items (hope for Syria/Lebanon's future) were excluded from the regression and tested via one-way ANOVA. [Results:] Though used for the first time within the Lebanese context and among a displaced sample, the FBD showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.822; Omega = 0.838). PHQ and FBD demonstrated moderate positive correlations in our sample (ρ = 0.56, all p

Keywords: armed conflict; feeling broken or destroyed; Lebanon; mental burden; PHQ; refugees; Syrians; social suffering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:espost:344179

DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1844218

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