Social Support and Resilience among Syrian Refugees: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

ABSTRACT

Refugees are exposed to potentially traumatic events before, during, and after the forced displacement. Related to these events, they are at risk of developing mental health problems. From a public-health perspective, it is important to investigate factors fostering resilience among refugee population. This study aimed to explore the mediation role of self-efficacy between social support and resilience among Syrian refugees living in Istanbul, Turkey. A cross-sectional survey of 339 Syrian refugees aged 18 and older was conducted between September 2018 and March 2019 in Istanbul. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to measure resilience, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) assessed social support, and self-efficacy was measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE). The simple mediation model analysis showed the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the social support and resilience relationship. Among the demographic factors, males and individuals with higher education levels reported increased resilience. Findings illuminated the importance of self-efficacy in promoting resilience among refugee population. Implications were discussed in a culturally appropriate way to enhance self-efficacy among Syrian refugees.

KEYWORDS:

• Syrian refugees
• social support
• self-efficacy
• resilience

Availability of data

Due to the nature of this research, participants in this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The research reported in this paper was not funded by any funding agency.