Social capital and mental health problems among Syrian refugee adolescents: The mediating roles of perceived social support and post-traumatic symptoms

Rahşan Duren and Özgen Yalçın

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2021, vol. 67, issue 3, 243-250

Abstract: Background: Social capital is one of the prominent components of refugee mental health. However, its role on mental health is poorly understood. Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the nature of the association between social capital and mental health problems in refugee adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study with three hundred twenty-one 12- to 18-year-old Syrian refugee adolescents was conducted in Turkey. We administered the Arabic versions of the following instruments in school settings: The Social Trust, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), The Children’s Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8) and The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The mediation analyses with Hayes’ PROCESS Macro revealed that perceived social support and the intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms fully mediated the relationship between social capital and mental health problems. Conclusion: The results suggested social trust’s two distinct functions which impair the likelihood of mental health problems: (a) social trust might help to facilitate perceived social support from family and friends and (b) social trust might impair the intensity of traumatic experiences.

Keywords: Social capital; Syrian refugees; mental health problems; adolescents; post-traumatic symptoms; perceived social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:67:y:2021:i:3:p:243-250

DOI: 10.1177/0020764020945355

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