Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41408308›Full record

ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2025

When does social support help? Differential effects on the relationship between post-migration stress and internalizing symptoms in young male refugees and immigrant-origin peers from the Middle East.

Usama El-Awad, Arnold Lohaus, Tilman Reinelt

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Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Usama El-AwadFaculty of Psychology and Sports Sciences, Bielefeld University, P.O. Box 10 01 31, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany. usama.el-awad@uni-bielefeld.de.
Arnold LohausFaculty of Psychology and Sports Sciences, Bielefeld University, P.O. Box 10 01 31, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany.
Tilman ReineltUniversity Hospital, University of Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPerceived social support is considered a crucial protective factor for mental health, particularly among marginalized populations. This study investigated the association between perceived social support and internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety) in young refugees and immigrant-origin peers from the Middle East. It further examined whether social support buffers the adverse impact of post-migration stress on internalizing symptoms.

methodsThe sample consisted of 135 male adolescents and young adults living in Germany, including n = 75 young refugees (primarily from Syria and Afghanistan) and n = 60 immigrant-origin peers, all with a Middle Eastern background. Validated self-report instruments were used to assess perceived support from friends, family, and significant others, as well as post-migration stress and internalizing symptoms.

resultsWhile higher perceived support was consistently associated with fewer internalizing symptoms across both groups, a buffering effect on post-migration stress was found among young immigrants for all support sources, but not for their refugee peers (three-way interaction: β = - 0.46, SE = 0.18, p = 0.012; conditional interaction effect for immigrants: β = - 0.04, SE = 0.01, p = 0.008; for refugees: β = 0.01, SE = 0.01, p = 0.448). Refugees reported significantly higher post-migration stress than immigrant-origin peers (t(131) = 5.11, p < 0.001) and perceived less support from friends (t(132) = - 3.29, p = 0.001) and significant others (t(133) = - 2.41, p = 0.017) but not from family (t(130) = - 1.88, p = 0.063).

conclusionsThese findings suggest that, for young male Middle Eastern refugees, perceived social support alone may be insufficient to buffer post-migration stress, underscoring the importance of expanding structural and instrumental support systems in Germany.

Indexed as

Buffering effectImmigrant youthInternalizing symptomsMiddle Eastern adolescentsPerceived social supportPost-migration stressRefugee youthYoung adults

Identifiers

PMID41408308
PMCPMC12821244

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.