Daily hassles and coping dispositions as predictors of psychological adjustment

Abstract

This study examined daily hassles and coping dispositions in relation to life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among resettled unaccompanied refugees and other youth in the resettlement country. A total of 223 unaccompanied refugees (M = 20 years) was compared with 609 ethnic minority and 427 majority youth in Norway. Unaccompanied refugees reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, daily hassles and engagement and disengagement coping than the other two groups, but equal level of life satisfaction. Daily hassles and disengagement coping predicted lower life satisfaction and more depressive symptoms across groups. Engagement coping predicted higher life satisfaction in all groups, but not less depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees. Multiple mediation analyses showed that daily hassles and coping dispositions partly explained group differences in depressive symptoms, and that at the same level of hassles and disengagement coping, unaccompanied refugees would be significantly more satisfied with life. Findings suggest that interventions to promote more effective coping strategies to handle the many hassles in their daily lives may improve unaccompanied refugees’ psychological adjustment and chances to succeed in the resettlement country.

Keywords

coping daily hassles depressive symptoms life satisfaction unaccompanied refugees youth

Unaccompanied minor refugees are recognized as the most vulnerable of the refugee population (Halvorsen, 2002). They have a history of loss and bereavement, exposure to a variety of traumas, and uncertainty about the future (Ayotte, 2000). Unaccompanied or separated refugee minors are primarily defined as being under the age of 18, outside their country of origin, and without their parents or previous legal/customary primary caregiver (Separated Children in Europe Programme, 2004). In the present study, we will use the term unaccompanied refugees as many participants are no longer minors, that is, under 18 years old, and their asylum applications have been granted.

A review of the literature identified only five empirical investigations of mental health among unaccompanied refugees whose stay have been granted and who are resettled in their new country (Bates et al., 2005; Geltman et al., 2005; Oppedal & Idsoe, 2012b; Porte & Torneypurta, 1987; Seglem, Oppedal, & Raeder, 2011). These studies exclusively focus on mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety and conduct problems. However, despite previous traumatic and adverse experiences, not all unaccompanied refugees report mental health problems. A few studies have drawn attention to how unaccompanied refugees, despite psychological distress, seem to portray remarkable signs of adaptive functioning in their everyday lives (Bates et al., 2005; Geltman et al., 2005; Rousseau, Said, Gagne, & Bibeau, 1998). Consequently, in the present study, we investigate both positive and negative psychological adjustment outcomes, namely life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, and their associations with levels of daily hassles and coping. With the aim of understanding the adjustment of unaccompanied refugees in a wider perspective, we include two comparison samples of regular ethnic minority and majority youth in Norway. Knowledge about similarities and differences with other youth in the receiving country may be valuable for both theoretical advancement and for clinicians and social workers responsible for the well-being of unaccompanied refugees.

Daily hassles and psychological adjustment

Daily hassles are the irritating, frustrating, distressing demands of everyday life, or the stressful features of enduring relationships and roles (Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, & Lazarus, 1981). In the receiving countries, unaccompanied refugees experience a variety of such hassles that may be distinguished based on whether they are idiosyncratic to their ethnic minority status (acculturation hassles) or common to all youth in the larger society as well, such as worries about family, problems with friends and pressure to do well in school or work (general hassles) (Keles, Friborg, Idsoe, Sirin, & Oppedal, 2013; Rowlison & Felner, 1988). General daily hassles within these domains substantially increase the risk of mental health problems, both among ethnic minority and majority adolescents (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001; Oppedal & Roysamb, 2004). In the migrant and refugee literature, there is a growing awareness that daily hassles are equally strong, if not stronger, predictors of mental health problems, especially depression, compared to traumatic and major life events (Heptinstall, Sethna, & Taylor, 2004; Montgomery, 2011; Sack, 1998). Although less studied, findings among youth also show that the fewer daily hassles experienced, the higher the life satisfaction (e.g. Ash & Huebner, 2001, Young, 2001). Despite the potentially harmful effect of daily hassles, no previous studies have examined the role of general daily hassles in relation to unaccompanied refugees’ psychological adjustment and in comparison to other peers in the resettlement country.

Coping and psychological adjustment

Not everyone experiences mental health problems or lower well-being in response to perceived stressors. Although the ways in which adolescents cope are potentially important mediators and moderators of the impact of stress on psychological adjustment (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001), the focus of the present study was on investigating differences in the levels of more stable coping dispositions among unaccompanied refugees and other youth. Particular coping mechanisms is typically more variable across situations and types of stressors, while broader coping dispositions are often found to have direct associations with psychological adjustment (Compas et al., 2001). Information about how unaccompanied refugees generally cope with stressors in their lives may therefore increase our understanding of individual differences in their psychological adjustment, and their adjustment relative to other youth.

Because individuals often use a range of different coping strategies when dealing with stressors, many studies have distinguished between higher-order dimensions of coping with regard to their overall function or orientation (see review by Compas et al., 2001). Based on previous studies of coping dimensions (Compas, Connor, Osowiecki, & Welch, 1997; Tobin, Holroyd, Reynolds, & Wigal, 1989), and preliminary analyses in the present study (see the Method section), we distinguish between engagement and disengagement coping. The theoretical assumption underlying this distinction is that cognitive and behavioural responses are directed either toward (engagement) or away (disengagement) from the source of stress or negative emotions (Compas et al., 1997; Tobin et al., 1989). Engagement coping includes strategies such as problem-solving, cognitive restructuring and seeking support, whereas disengagement coping includes strategies such as avoidance, wishful thinking and social withdrawal (Compas et al., 1997). In order to make broader generalizations about how unaccompanied refugees’ coping is related to their psychological adjustment, we investigated how the participants usually respond to certain stressors, commonly referred to as coping styles or dispositions (Carver & Scheier, 1994).

Previous studies show that traumatic events and other stressful experiences may compromise children and adolescents’ constructive, active and affiliating coping responses, and lead to a more avoidant or disengaging coping style (Charlton & Thompson, 1996; Montgomery, 2011). In one study, Kurdish children, about 12 years old, who had a history of family trauma, were less inclined to share emotions with others or to find ways of giving meaning or alternative solutions for their painful feelings (Punamäki, Muhammed, & Abdulrahman, 2004). The high levels of previous traumatic and stressful events documented in studies of unaccompanied refugees (see review by Huemer et al., 2009) may therefore dispose them to rely more on disengagement coping in dealing with stressors in their everyday lives, compared to youth without such experiences.

Perhaps the most consistent finding in coping research is the positive association between avoidance or disengagement coping and psychological distress. While engagement coping has mostly been associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety (Tobin et al., 1989; Wadsworth & Compas, 2002), disengagement coping has been associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety and conduct problems (Auerbach, Abela, Zhu, & Yao, 2010; Connor-Smith & Compas, 2004), and lower life satisfaction (Utsey, Ponterotto, Reynolds, & Cancelli, 2000). Furthermore, studies of individuals who have experienced trauma find that an increased tendency to use avoidant coping strategies is negatively associated with their well-being many years after (Charlton & Thompson, 1996; Matheson, Jorden, & Anisman, 2008).

The present study

The overall aim of the present study is to gain knowledge about the association of daily hassles and coping dispositions with life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees, and in comparison to ethnic minority and majority youth in the resettlement country. Specifically, this study will examine 1) levels of daily hassles, engagement and disengagement coping, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction; 2) whether daily hassles and coping predict individual and group differences in life satisfaction and depressive symptoms; and 3) whether daily hassles and coping may account for (mediate) potential differences in levels of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms between unaccompanied refugees and other youth groups. Based on earlier studies, we hypothesized that unaccompanied refugees would report more daily hassles, disengagement coping and depressive symptoms than ethnic minority and majority youth, and less engagement coping and life satisfaction due to their adverse circumstances. We also predicted that daily hassles and coping dispositions would explain a substantive amount of variance in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction in all three groups. However, based on the lack of previous comparative studies between unaccompanied refugees and other youth, the relative strengths of these effects, as well as the potential of daily hassles and coping to mediate group differences in mental health was largely exploratory.

Method

Participants

Participants in two subprojects of an ongoing research program, the Youth, Culture and Competence Study (YCC), at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health provided information for the present study (www.fhi.no/ungkul). One subproject is a longitudinal study targeting unaccompanied refugees who were granted settlement in Norway between 2000 and 2011. As the relevant measures for the present study were included in the second wave of data collection, the study sample includes participants who had completed this wave by mid-April 2011. The other subproject targeted students (N = 1,532) with ethnic minority and ethnic majority backgrounds attending three senior high schools with a relatively high percentage ethnic minority students. All projects have been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics and the Norwegian Data Inspectorate.

Unaccompanied refugee sample

The sample consisted of 223 unaccompanied refugees with a mean age of 20 years (SD = 2.4). The majority, 81%, were male and originated from 23 different countries in Africa or Asia; the largest groups coming from Afghanistan (n = 78), Somalia (n = 32), Sri Lanka (n = 26) and Iraq (n = 16). Participants had been resettled for an average of 4.1 years (SD = 2.2), and were on average 15 years of age when applying for asylum in Norway. The majority of the study sample attended school (82.6%), whereas 11.6% reported full-time work as their main activity. Demographic characteristics were similar to the total population of unaccompanied refugees resettled in Norway between 2000 and 2009 (detailed sample information is available upon request).

High school sample

Participants included 609 students categorized as ethnic minority as they had two foreign-born parents or 3–4 foreign-born grandparents, and 427 students categorized as ethnic majority as they had two Norwegian-born parents or 3–4 Norwegian-born grandparents. Both samples were on average 17 years of age (SD = 1.2), and 45% were male. A total of 108 participants were excluded because they had one Norwegian-born and one foreign-born parent, or because their parents originated from the United States or a western European country. This was done to obtain an ethnic minority sample comparable to the unaccompanied refugees. The ethnic minority sample originated from 38 different countries. The largest groups were from Pakistan, Somalia, Morocco and Turkey, comprising 48% of the sample. Sixty-three percent of the ethnic minority sample was first generation immigrants, that is, foreign-born, and 37% was second generation, that is, born in Norway to foreign-born parents. The first-generation immigrants had stayed in Norway for an average of 11.6 years (SD = 5.9).

Procedure

Data collection among the unaccompanied refugees was administered in small groups in the municipalities where they lived. Trained research assistants were present on all occasions. Participants were recruited by an invitation letter mailed to them and a follow-up phone call. A few (15.4%) who were unable to meet on the appointed day answered the questionnaire by mail. The unaccompanied refugees received a gift card worth about €26 upon completion of the Wave 2 questionnaire. The high school participants completed electronic questionnaires during regular school classes. All participants provided informed consent forms. A more detailed description of sample selection and procedures are described elsewhere (Seglem et al., 2011).

Measures

Depressive symptoms were measured by a 10-item short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CESD-10; Andresen, Malmgren, Carter, & Patrick, 1994). Participants were asked to report how often during the past week they had experienced each of the 10 symptoms on a 4-point Likert-type scale from 0 = “rarely or none of the time” to 3 = “all of the time.” Total scale scores, ranging from 0 to 30, were obtained by summing the item scores. Example items include: “I felt that everything I did was an effort” and “I felt lonely.” The gender and cross-cultural structural equivalence of the factor structure of the original 20-item version of the CES-D (Radloff, 1977) has been verified among unaccompanied refugees and ethnic minority and majority youth taking part in the YCC (Oppedal & Idsoe, 2012a). Cronbach’s alpha for the ten item version of this study was .77 among unaccompanied refugees, .83 among ethnic minority, and .86 among ethnic majority youth.

Life satisfaction was measured by five items tapping satisfaction with different life domains found to be relevant for adolescents (Kim & Park, 1999). Respondents were asked to indicate how satisfied they were with school grades, appearance, body, social life and relationship with friends on a 7-point Likert-type scale from 1 = “Very dissatisfied” to 7 = “Very satisfied.” The items were combined to a mean sum score ranging from 1 (low) to 7 (high). Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was .76 among unaccompanied refugees, .85 among ethnic minority, and .78 among ethnic majority youth.

Daily hassles were measured by seven items based on previous research on common stressors experienced during adolescence (Evans & Poole, 1987; Rowlison & Felner, 1988; Stark, Spirito, Williams, & Guevremont, 1989). The items measured general hassles related to family (2), friends (3) and school/work (2). Participants checked how often they had experienced each hassle within the last year on a 4-point Likert-type scale from 1 = “No, never” to 4 = “Yes, very often.” Example items include: “Quarrels or conflicts in relationships with friends” and “Heavy pressure from people around you to succeed and do well in school/at work.” A mean sum score of daily hassles ranging from 1 (low level) to 4 (high level) was computed based on the item scores.

Coping was assessed by The Brief COPE, a 28-item instrument designed to assess 14 conceptually distinct coping strategies (Carver, 1997). The items were prefaced with the following question: “Everyone experiences problems or conflicts with their friends from time to time. What do you usually do when you have conflicts or problems with your friends?” Participants indicated how frequently they engaged in each strategy on a 4-point Likert-type scale from 1 = “I usually don’t do this at all” to 4 = “I usually do this a lot.” Example items include: “I say to myself that I must learn to live with it” (Acceptance) and “I try to come up with a strategy about what to do” (Planning).

To identify the underlying structure of coping comparable across the three youth groups, we conducted a principal components analyses (PCA) of the 14 coping strategies in The Brief COPE. A two-factor solution explaining 48.5% of the total variance among unaccompanied refugees, and 58.2% and 49.2% among ethnic minority and majority youth, respectively, was chosen, based on conceptual soundness and similar loadings on the factors across the three samples. To ensure the fit of the two-factor solution to the data, we subsequently conducted confirmatory factor analysis using the maximum-likelihood estimation procedure of Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2010). The results yielded adequate support for the model in the total sample, χ² (41) = 233.84, p = .00, CFI = .93, RMSEA = .06, and evenly distributed factor loadings.

The first factor, termed Engagement, included seven coping strategies: active, planning, seeking emotional and instrumental support, venting, positive reframing, and self-distraction. The second factor, termed Disengagement, included four coping strategies indicating avoidance or resignation in response to the stressor: self-blame, denial, behavioural disengagement, and acceptance. Three coping strategies: religious coping, substance use, and humour, were excluded due to non-similar loadings across groups.

Data analyses

Missing values on scale items ranged from 2.4% to 17.6% across groups, with the largest percentage missing among the ethnic minority sample. Missing values were assumed to be random (MAR) and were imputed by means of the expectation maximization (EM) method in SPSS.

Multiple-mediation analyses based on a bootstrapping approach described by Preacher and Hayes (2008) was employed to test if differences in levels of daily hassles and coping explained differences in psychological adjustment between unaccompanied refugees and the two other youth groups. This procedure makes it possible to determine to what extent specific variables mediate the effect of X on Y, controlling for the effects of other mediators in the model (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). The total indirect effect for a model including more than one mediator is simply the sum of the specific indirect effects.

We computed two dummy group variables, where unaccompanied refugees (coded 1) were contrasted to each of the other youth groups (coded 0) in individual analyses for life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. We employed macros that have been developed to test multiple mediation models and significance of mediated effects (available at http://www.afhayes.com/spss-sas-and-mplus-macros-and-code.html). Standardized scores for all indices were implemented, making it possible to interpret results in terms of effect sizes (Cheung, 2009). The estimates are based on 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Results

Group differences in mental health, coping and daily hassles

We used one-way analyses of variance to examine group differences in the study variables. Gender and age were controlled for due to unequal distributions. Unaccompanied refugees reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than did ethnic minority and majority youth, F(2, 1254) = 9.72, p < .001, both Cohen’s d = 0.37 (Table 1). In contrast, the three youth groups reported equal levels of life satisfaction F(2, 1254) = 1.84, p = .16. Unaccompanied refugees reported more use of both engagement, F(2, 1254) = 15.56, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0 .50 and 0.31 for ethnic minority and majority youth, respectively, and disengagement coping, F(2, 1254) = 5.77, p < .01, Cohen’s d = 0.29 and 0.22, respectively. Finally, unaccompanied refugees reported more daily hassles than both ethnic minority and majority youth, F(2, 1254) = 7.96, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.32 and 0.42, respectively.

Table 1.

Means, standard deviations, confidence intervals and group differences for each youth sample for the major study variables.

	Unaccompanied (n = 223)		Minority (n = 609)		Majority (n = 427)
Variable	M (SD)	95% CI	M (SD)	95% CI	M (SD)	95% CI	Group diff.*
CES-D	10.44 (4.83)	[9.80, 11.08]	8.46 (5.70)	[8.00, 8.91]	8.43 (5.88)	[7.87, 8.99]	ab
Life satisfaction	5.58 (0.95)	[5.45, 5.70]	5.41 (1.27)	[5.31, 5.51]	5.28 (1.05)	[5.18, 5.38]	ns
Hassles	2.06 (0.54)	[1.99, 2.13]	1.88 (0.60)	[1.84, 1.93]	1.84 (0.51)	[1.79, 1.89]	ab
Engagement	2.67 (0.48)	[2.60, 2.73]	2.42 (0.51)	[2.38, 2.46]	2.52 (0.49)	[2.48, 2.57]	abc
Disengagement	2.23 (0.42)	[2.18, 2.29]	2.09 (0.55)	[2.05, 2.14]	2.13 (0.47)	[2.09, 2.18]	ab

Notes. CES-D 10 range is 0–30; Life satisfaction range is 1–7; daily hassles range is 1–4; coping scales range is 1–4.

* Significant group differences after controlling for gender and age.

a Unaccompanied different from Majority.

b Unaccompanied different from Minority.

c Minority different from Majority.

For several of the study variables, the unaccompanied refugees indicated a more restricted variance (standard deviations) than the other two groups. Tests of homogeneity of variance across the three groups showed that variances were equal for engagement coping F(2, 1256) = 0.08, ns, but unequal for depressive symptoms, F(2, 1256) = 3.68, p < .05, life satisfaction, F(2, 1256) = 10.95, p < .001, daily hassles, F(2, 1256) = 5.59, p < .01, and disengagement coping, F(2, 1256) = 9.58, p < .001. In addition, the variance ratios (largest group variance divided by smallest) ranged from 1.13 to 1.67, all above the critical value according to Hartley’s F_Max. When groups with smaller sample sizes have smaller variances, this may cause problems in terms of statistical power to detect actual differences (Glass, Peckham, & Sanders, 1972). However, this does not seem to have caused any serious bias in the present study as significant differences were found for all measures, except life satisfaction.

Associations between daily hassles, coping and psychological adjustment

Correlations

The bivariate relationships between the variables were similar across the groups and are therefore presented together (Table 2). It may be noted that the correlation between engagement coping and life satisfaction was non-significant in all three groups.

Table 2.

Intercorrelations amongst the major study variables for all samples.

	1	2	3	4
1. CES-D 10	–
2. Life satisfaction	−.44**	–
3. Hassles	.52**	−.21**	–
4. Engagement	.15**	.04	.28**	–
5. Disengagement	.42**	−.23**	.41**	.56**

Note. * p < .05; ** p < .01.

Hierarchical regression analyses: Life satisfaction

We ran a separate regression model for each youth group (Table 3). In all models, gender and age were added as control variables in the first step, accounting for 3%–4% of the variance in life satisfaction across groups. In the second step, we added the daily hassles index, which was a significant independent predictor of life satisfaction in all three groups, accounting for an additional 4%–5% of the variance. In the third step, engagement and disengagement coping were significant independent predictors of life satisfaction, accounting for 4%–11% of the variance across groups. In the final step, we investigated possible interaction effects between daily hassles and coping dispositions. There were no significant interaction effects predicting life satisfaction in any of the three groups. Interaction terms between hassles and each coping disposition were added simultaneously (adding each interaction term individually produced virtually identical results). The final model accounted for 13%–19% of the total variance in life satisfaction across groups. There were no significant group differences in explained variance.

Table 3.

Hierarchical regression model predicting life satisfaction from daily hassles and engagement and disengagement coping.

	Unaccompanied		Minority		Majority
Variable	ΔR ²	β	ΔR ²	β	ΔR ²	β
Step 1	.04*		.03***		.03**
Gender		−.08		−.17***		−.12*
Age		.13		.00		−.05
Step 2	.04**		.04***		.05***
Hassles		−.17*		−.11*		−.15**
Step 3	.04**		.09***		.11***
Engagement		.19**		.34***		.27***
Disengagement		−.20**		−.38***		−.39***
Step 4	.00		.00		.01
Hassles × Engagement		.01		−.25		.38
Hassles × Disengagement		−.01		.33		−.51
Total R ²	.13***		.16***		.19***

Note. Reported betas of main effects are from full model without interaction terms.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

To examine whether the associations significantly differed between groups, we ran a general linear model with all samples collapsed and included interaction terms with unaccompanied refugees as the reference group. There was only one significant interaction term showing that the positive association of engagement coping and life satisfaction was significantly stronger among ethnic minority youth than unaccompanied refugees, t(1245) = 2.22, p = .027. The difference in association of disengagement coping and life satisfaction between ethnic minority youth and unaccompanied refugees approached significance, t(1245) = −1.86, p = .06). All effect sizes were small (partial eta squared > 0.01).

Hierarchical regression analyses: Depressive symptoms

We ran a separate regression model for each youth group (Table 4). Gender and age were included as control variables in the first step. These variables did not account for any significant variance in depressive symptoms among the unaccompanied refugees, while accounting for 3% and 4% of the variance in ethnic minority and majority youth, respectively. In the second step, the daily hassles index was a significant independent predictor, accounting for an additional 19%–28% of the variance across groups. In the third step, we added engagement and disengagement coping. While disengagement coping significantly predicted depressive symptoms in all three groups, engagement coping was only a significant predictor among ethnic minority and majority students. Engagement and disengagement coping accounted for an additional 3%–10% of the variance in depressive symptoms. In the final step, we investigated possible interaction effects between daily hassles and coping dispositions. Results showed that there was a significant interaction between hassles and disengagement coping among ethnic majority youth F(7, 426) = 30.34, p < .001, indicating that a higher use of disengagement coping predicted a stronger positive association between daily hassles and depressive symptoms. No significant interaction effects were found among the unaccompanied refugees and ethnic minority youth. Adding each interaction term individually produced virtually identical results. The final model accounted for 23%–40% of the total variance in depressive symptoms. The predictors explained significantly less variation in depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees compared to other ethnic minority youth, Z = 2.78, p < .01, but not compared to ethnic majority youth.

Table 4.

Hierarchical regression model predicting depressive symptoms from daily hassles and engagement and disengagement coping.

	Unaccompanied		Minority		Majority
Variable	ΔR ²	β	ΔR ²	β	ΔR ²	β
Step 1	.01		.03***		.04***
Gender		.10		.10**		.10*
Age		−.02		.03		−.01
Step 2	.19***		.28***		.20***
Hassles		.37***		.39***		.38***
Step 3	.03*		.10***		.08***
Engagement		−.04		−.25***		−.17**
Disengagement		.18*		.45***		.34***
Step 4	.00		.00		.01**
Hassles × Engagement		−.08		.04		−.35
Hassles × Disengagement		.20		.10		.88**
Total R ²	.23***		.40***		.34***

Note. Reported betas of main effects are from full model without interaction terms.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

As for life satisfaction, we tested for significant differences in the associations between groups with the use of interaction terms in a general linear model with all samples collapsed. There were no significant differences in the strength of the association between daily hassles and depression, F(2, 1245) = 1.01, p = .37. The association between engagement coping and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger among ethnic minority youth than unaccompanied refugees, t(1245) = −2.78, p = .01, while the difference between unaccompanied refugees and ethnic majority youth approached significance t(1245) = −1.76, p = .08. The association of disengagement coping and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger among both ethnic minority, t(1245) = 2.64, p = .01, and majority youth, t(1245) = 2.06, p = .04, as compared to unaccompanied refugees. A three-way interaction term with group, hassles and coping disposition showed that the interaction effect of hassles and disengagement coping on depressive symptoms among ethnic majority youth was significantly different compared to the other two groups F(3, 1258) = 3.01, p = .03.

In sum, these results indicate that while hassles has a similar impact on depression in the three youth groups, the coping effort of unaccompanied refugees does not have as strong an impact as the coping of the other youth on their depressive symptoms. However, all effect sizes were small (partial eta squared > 0.01).

Multiple mediation analyses

In the final round of analyses we tested whether daily hassles, engagement and disengagement coping mediated group differences in life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Despite a non-significant difference between groups in life satisfaction after controlling for gender and age, the proposed mediators could still have indirect effects, perhaps acting as suppressors of actual group differences. Group differences would then increase after adding the mediator(s). The investigation of indirect effects in models with a non-significant direct effect is supported in the literature (e.g. Hayes, 2009; Shrout & Bolger, 2002).

We conducted separate multiple mediation analyses contrasting unaccompanied refugees first with the ethnic minority group and then with the ethnic majority group. The mediation models for life satisfaction and depressive symptoms are presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively. Table 5 shows the parameter estimates for the total and specific indirect effects on the relationship between youth group and life satisfaction on the one hand and depressive symptoms on the other, as mediated by daily hassles, engagement, and disengagement coping. Gender and age effects were controlled for.

Figure 1.

Multiple mediation model (on the basis of Preacher & Hayes, 2008). UR = unaccompanied refugees; Min = minority; Maj = majority. Standardized regression coefficients for model with UR and Min as group are presented on the left side of the slash, while estimates for model with UR and Maj as group are on the right side. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Figure 2.

Table 5.

Total and specific indirect effects through daily hassles and coping in the relation between groups and mental health outcomes.

	Life satisfaction		Depressive symptoms
	Parameter estimate	BCa 95% CI	Parameter estimate	BCa 95% CI
	Unaccompanied versus minority
Hassles	−.04*	[−.09, −.01]	.13*	[.05, .21]
Engagement	.15*	[.08, .24]	−.09*	[−.16, −.05]
Disengagement	−.10*	[−.18, −.04]	.11*	[.04, .18]
Total indirect effect	.01	[−.08, .10]	.14*	[.03, .27]
	Unaccompanied versus majority
Hassles	−.08*	[−.14, −.05]	.19*	[.11, .29]
Engagement	.05*	[.00, .11]	−.03*	[−.08, .00]
Disengagement	−.09*	[−.16, −.03]	.09*	[.03, .17]
Total indirect effect	−.12*	[−.21, −.04]	.25*	[.14, .37]

Note. BCa CI, bias corrected and accelerated confidence intervals.

*p < .05 (significant indirect effect).

Mediated effects on life satisfaction

Figure 1a shows that the direct group effect on life satisfaction was non-significant both when ethnic minority and majority youth was the comparison group to unaccompanied refugees. However, when adding daily hassles, engagement and disengagement coping as mediators in the model (Figure 1b), the difference in life satisfaction between unaccompanied refugees and ethnic majority youth increased. This indicates a suppressor effect suggesting that if the levels of daily hassles and coping were the same in the two groups, unaccompanied refugees would have higher life satisfaction than ethnic majority youth.

Analyses contrasting unaccompanied refugees with other ethnic minority youth did not at first glance yield similar results. However, a closer examination of the indirect effects comparing the unaccompanied refugees and other ethnic minority youth in Table 5, shows that the specific effects of group through daily hassles, engagement and disengagement coping to life satisfaction are all significant. Because the negative indirect effects through hassles and disengagement coping are similar in size to the positive indirect effect through engagement coping, they cancel each other out. Consequently, the interpretation that there is no total indirect effect appears equivocal, masking the suppressor effect of hassles and coping dispositions in this analysis. Thus, in comparison to both ethnic minority and majority youth, if the level of daily hassles and disengagement coping were the same among unaccompanied refugees, then the level of life satisfaction would have been significantly higher in the latter group. On the other hand, unaccompanied refugees’ use of engagement coping contributed in the opposite direction, increasing their level of life satisfaction relative to ethnic minority and majority youth.

Mediated effects on depressive symptoms

In both models, there was a significant direct effect of group on depressive symptoms (Figure 2a), showing that unaccompanied refugees have more symptoms than both ethnic minority and majority youth. After the mediators were added to the model, the direct effects of group on depressive symptoms decreased, from β = .40 to β = .26 for unaccompanied refugees versus ethnic minority youth, and from β = .50 to β = .24 for unaccompanied refugees versus ethnic majority youth. The total indirect effect through the mediators was significant in both models, in spite of the indirect effects working in opposite directions (Table 5). Thus, if the level of daily hassles and coping dispositions were the same among unaccompanied refugees as among ethnic minority and majority youth, the differences in depression would have been significantly smaller. Parallel to the findings regarding group differences in life satisfaction, the indirect effects of daily hassles and disengagement coping indicate that these variables contributed to the higher level of depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees relative to the other youth groups, whereas the use of engagement coping contributed to decreasing the level of depressive symptoms among the unaccompanied refugees compared to the other groups.

Discussion

We examined the levels and associations between daily hassles, engagement and disengagement coping, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among young resettled unaccompanied refugees and other ethnic minority and majority youth in Norway. We further examined whether daily hassles and coping accounted for differences in life satisfaction and depressive symptoms between unaccompanied refugees and the other youth groups.

The higher level of depressive symptoms found among unaccompanied refugees is in line with previous comparative studies of unaccompanied youth and immigrant and refugee youth accompanied by their parents and host ethnic youth (Bean, Derluyn, Eurelings-Bontekoe, Broekaert, & Spinhoven, 2007; Derluyn, Mels, & Broekaert, 2009). In contrast, the similar levels of life satisfaction were somewhat surprising, considering the amount of stressful experiences in the lives of unaccompanied refugees. However, a previous study with a small convenience sample (n = 41) of unaccompanied refugees in Austria did find that the overall sum score of satisfaction with life was slightly lower, but not significantly different to the Austrian adolescent norm population (Huemer et al., 2011). These findings indicate that despite more depressive symptoms than other youth and experiences of trauma and loss, unaccompanied refugees still experience a sense of contentment and well-being in their lives.

Assuming that life satisfaction is affected by one’s aspirations and standards of reference (Evans, 1985), one explanation to the high levels reported by unaccompanied refugees may be that they compare their present situation to their situation before leaving their homeland or their fortunate situation relative to family and friends that are left behind. Because we used a domain approach, it is important to note that there may be other areas of life, not measured here, that also may contribute to the general life satisfaction, such as satisfaction with family or with the financial situation. Considering the strong focus on mental health problems and psychopathology in previous research on this special youth group, these results emphasise the need for further studies on how positive and negative adjustment processes work together.

The smaller variance found among the unaccompanied refugees in many of the study variables indicated that unaccompanied refugees were more homogeneous than the ethnic minority and majority youth samples. This may be considered surprising due to the variety of countries and backgrounds that unaccompanied refugees come from. On the other hand, their common experiences of being separated from their families and resettling in the same country may contribute to their increased similarity.

Predictors of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms

The present findings are consistent with previous studies of refugees and other adolescents showing that experience of general daily hassles and more use of disengagement coping strategies are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms (Ash & Huebner, 2001; Auerbach et al., 2010; Oppedal & Roysamb, 2004) and lower life satisfaction (Utsey et al., 2000; Young, 2001). Extending previous research, comparisons across groups showed that daily hassles that are common to all youth are equally important for unaccompanied refugees’ levels of depressive symptoms and life satisfaction as they are for other youth. Thus, general daily hassles should be incorporated in models aiming to understand the stressors that impact psychological adjustment in unaccompanied refugees.

Examination of the total explained variance in Table 3 and Table 4 indicate that daily hassles and the two sets of coping dimensions contributes more to the prediction of depressive symptoms relative to life satisfaction. This suggests that other variables may be more important in explaining positive adjustment outcomes, for example personality factors (Lucas & Diener, 2009) or personal and social resources (Young, 2001). Quite a few studies have emphasized unaccompanied refugees’ signs of resilience, including strong will to succeed and other resembling characteristics such as self-efficacy and mastery (Bates et al., 2005; Geltman et al., 2005; Rousseau et al., 1998). Perhaps such personal resources are more strongly related to life satisfaction among unaccompanied refugees than their current life circumstances.

Engagement coping did not significantly predict variation in depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees as opposed to the other youth groups. It could be that the higher level of daily hassles experienced by unaccompanied refugees makes the advantage of using engagement strategies less evident. In a previous study of inner-city youth, the relation between active coping and lower depressive symptoms was reduced when stress levels increased (Gonzales, Tein, Sandler, & Friedman, 2001). However, an interaction between level of hassles and engagement was not found in the present study. Another possible explanation is that unaccompanied refugees experience more uncontrollable stressors. Many engagement coping strategies, that is, actively doing something to change the stressor or making a plan of what to do, may not be efficient in dealing with these types of stressors (Compas et al., 2001). For instance, unaccompanied refugees who experience worries about family members in their home country may have fewer opportunities for changing the situation as opposed to ethnic minority or majority youth who have their families in close proximity.

The only significant moderation effect of coping in the present study was found in the ethnic majority youth group, in which higher use of disengagement coping accentuated the positive association between daily hassles and depressive symptoms. Again, the difference in controllability of stressors may be a possible explanation to group differences. Ethnic majority youth may experience more controllable daily hassles than unaccompanied refugees and minority youth, and therefore the detrimental effect of using disengagement coping is stronger. For youth exposed to uncontrollable life stressors, studies have suggested that avoidance or disengagement may in fact be a reasonable and adaptive strategy (e.g. Gonzales et al., 2001). It is generally difficult to detect moderation in non-experimental studies, and a recent review states that little can yet be concluded in the area of coping variables as moderators (Grant et al., 2006). It is premature to draw any conclusions on the basis of this single study of unaccompanied refugees, and results may have differed in a study using other coping constructs and with a measure of the controllability of the stressors.

We found that the two coping dimensions explained an additional 4%–11% of the variance in life satisfaction and 3%–10% of the variance in depressive symptoms beyond that accounted for by gender, age, and daily hassles. However, it should be noted that this is a conservative approach in assessing the predictive value of coping on psychological adjustment. By reanalysing the data with coping before daily hassles, the two coping dimensions accounted for more variance in both life satisfaction (6%–14%) and depressive symptoms (10%–26%). These results show that there is some overlap between daily hassles and coping in predicting adjustment, but that each makes a unique contribution as well.

The overall weaker association of coping dispositions on adjustment found among unaccompanied refugees relative to the other youth suggests that the coping of unaccompanied refugees and the effectiveness of engagement versus disengagement strategies may be more diverse or complex than in other youth, perhaps because of the nature of stressors they experience. Models with broad dimensions of coping may therefore be less informative among refugee youth. To further understand the coping process among unaccompanied refugees, future studies should examine the particular strategies that unaccompanied refugees use to cope and their effectiveness in relation to the specific stressors that they have.

Mediated differences between groups

The multiple mediation analyses showed that both daily hassles and coping dispositions affected differences in mean levels of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms between the unaccompanied refugees and the ethnic minority and majority youth. Results indicate that if the levels of daily hassles and use of disengagement coping had been equal across groups, the unaccompanied refugees would have been significantly more satisfied with their lives than both ethnic minority and majority youth. Thus, hassles and disengagement coping seem to suppress the life satisfaction of unaccompanied refugees, although it should be noted that the size of these effects were small.

While daily hassles and coping dispositions contributed to group differences in depressive symptoms, they only partially accounted for the differences. This implies that other factors also contribute to the higher level of depressive symptoms among unaccompanied refugees compared to other youth. Previous studies have shown that unaccompanied refugees experience significantly more traumatic life events than refugee youth accompanied by their parents and other youth in the receiving country (e.g. Bean et al., 2007). The strong focus on trauma in previous research on refugees is not sufficient to detect all variation in psychological adjustment, as the present study shows. By combining the study of pre-migration trauma with post-migration hassles, however, future research may provide a more holistic understanding of why unaccompanied refugees suffer from such high levels of mental health problems.

Limitations

Because this study was based on cross-sectional data, causal relationships between coping, daily hassles, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction can not be ascertained. As indicated by previous findings, these factors may have a bidirectional relationship (Feist, Bodner, Jacobs, Miles, & Tan, 1995; Pettit, Lewinsohn, Seeley, Roberts, & Yaroslavsky, 2010). For instance, people’s satisfaction with their lives or depressive feelings may influence the way in which they define everyday events and the strategies they use to cope with stressors.

In the present study, the coping questionnaire was prefaced with a question of how one usually copes with social hassles in relationships with friends. To make inferences about the differences in coping between the three youth groups in the present study, it was important to make them think of as similar types of problems as possible. We therefore chose social hassles in relationships with friends because this is one of the most typical problem areas among adolescents in general and applicable across the groups. Although we assume that the coping dispositions measured in the present study reflect general individual differences in typical coping responses that are relevant to other daily hassles as well, we can not preclude that results would have been somewhat different had we measured coping within another stress domain.

The heterogeneity of national origins in the unaccompanied refugee and ethnic minority samples, and the relatively small number from each country, precluded an analysis of whether country, as a broad examination of cultural differences, influenced any of the results. Cultural differences in both the psychological constructs measured and ways of understanding and responding to self-report questionnaires can not be ruled out. However, both the unaccompanied refugee and ethnic minority samples had stayed in Norway for several years on average and during formative years. Thus, it may be assumed that most have integrated Western conceptualizations of psychological phenomena, as found in a study of young Asian immigrants in Britain (Furnham & Malik, 1994). In addition, the overall Norwegian language proficiency of the unaccompanied refugees was judged to be good, based on reports from the youth themselves and observations of the research team. More details about the language proficiency and related data collection procedures can be found in Seglem et al. (2011). In further support of the validity of our findings, all measurements used in this study indicate good psychometric qualities (e.g. Oppedal & Idsoe, 2012a).

Conclusions and implications

Findings of the present study add to the small but growing extant knowledge about factors that influence the psychological adjustment of unaccompanied refugees after resettlement. They show that in spite of unaccompanied asylum-seekers and refugees being considered the most vulnerable group of immigrant children and youth, their psychological adjustment are in important areas similar to those of other youth groups. Thus, findings support that the study of psychological adjustment among unaccompanied refugees can be informed by models proven to be useful for youth in general.

The level of daily hassles related to family, friends and school/work and disengagement coping were substantial predictors of depressive symptoms in all three youth groups. The higher level of these stressors among the unaccompanied refugees accounted partly for their higher level of depressive symptoms relative to the other ethnic minority and majority youth. Moreover, unaccompanied refugees’ higher level of daily hassles and disengagement coping seemed to suppress their life satisfaction relative to the comparison groups. In other words, the life satisfaction of unaccompanied refugees would have been significantly higher than the other youth, if their daily hassles and disengagement coping had been at equal levels. While traumatic experience has received extensive focus in previous studies of mental health among unaccompanied refugees, the present findings suggest that a focus on current life stressors, such as daily hassles, and effective coping strategies is an important focus for clinical work among these youth.

Unaccompanied refugees’ higher level of depressive symptoms may interfere with their adaptation process and functioning in everyday life in areas such as school and building new social networks. Unaccompanied refugees arrive during a sensitive developmental period, when many physiological, emotional, and cognitive changes occur. As well as impeding adjustment during the early phases of resettlement, development of depressive symptoms during adolescence is a great risk for recurrence of depression in adulthood, entailing both high social and personal costs (Newman et al., 1996; Rutter, Kim-Cohen, & Maughan, 2006). Future studies should explore the developmental trajectories and outcomes, including potential moderators and mediators, of the relations between daily hassles, coping and mental health. For instance, variables such as temperamental characteristics, interpersonal relationships and cognitive appraisal have been shown to affect the relation between stress, coping and mental health (e.g. Compas, Connor-Smith, & Jaser, 2004; Grant et al., 2006). Knowledge about these processes in a developmental perspective will provide further guidance for preventing mental health problems and promoting well-being among unaccompanied refugees, which is important for their success as they develop into adulthood.

Footnotes

Funding

Funding for this study was supported through grants from the Norwegian Extra Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation through EXTRA funds (2008/2/0288).

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