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The Longitudinal Relation between Daily Hassles and Depressive Symptoms among Unaccompanied Refugees in Norway

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Abstract

The aim of the present longitudinal study is to understand the longitudinal relation between depressive symptoms and daily hassles (i.e., general and acculturation hassles) in a high-risk population of unaccompanied refugees. We investigated the validity of three stress-mental health models: the stress exposure model, the stress generation model, and the reciprocal model. Data were collected from 918 unaccompanied refugees in Norway in three waves. Of the initial sample, the majority (82.1%) were male (M age = 19.01 years, SD = 2.54 years). The data were analyzed with auto-regressive cross-lagged modeling and latent growth curve modeling. The results supported the stress exposure model for the relation between depressive symptoms and acculturation hassles, indicating that acculturation hassles predicted the subsequent levels of depressive symptoms rather than vice versa. On the other hand, the reciprocal model was supported for the relation between depressive symptoms and general hassles indicating a bidirectional, mutual relation. Unconditional latent growth models further showed that depression level remained unchanged over time, while levels of acculturation and general hassles decreased. The implications for clinical practice and immigration policy are discussed.

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Notes

  1. With regard to the missing data, the Little’s MCAR test with all the variables in the model was non-significant, χ2 (626) = 617.96, p = 0.583.

  2. In line with the suggestion from one of the reviewers, the correlation between general and acculturation hassles were taken into account in additional AR analyses. For example, controlling for acculturation hassles did not change the relation between general hassles and depressive symptoms, and vice versa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child Development and Mental Health, Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404, Nydalen, N-0403, Oslo, Norway

    Serap Keles, Thormod Idsøe & Brit Oppedal

  2. Department of Research, Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo, Norway

    Serap Keles & Thormod Idsøe

  3. Department of Psychology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Oddgeir Friborg

  4. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Selcuk Sirin

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  1. Serap Keles
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  2. Thormod Idsøe
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Correspondence to Serap Keles.

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Keles, S., Idsøe, T., Friborg, O. et al. The Longitudinal Relation between Daily Hassles and Depressive Symptoms among Unaccompanied Refugees in Norway. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45, 1413–1427 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0251-8

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