Interconnected Protective Factors and Adversities: Adaptation and Resilience in Refugees During Intensified Containment and COVID-19 in Lesbos, Greece

Abstract

Combining frameworks from both migration studies and psychology, this study examines the factors that have contributed to refugees’ resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Lesbos, Greece. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with refugees and international humanitarian actors and subsequently analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Ten key protective factors are presented, operating at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels. These factors encompass behavioral and cognitive factors at the individual level, as well as social support and community resources such as self-organization, self-advocacy, and organizational support. Our analysis, informed by a multisystemic framework of resilience, revealed that these factors are fundamentally interconnected and shaped by the institutional macrosystem. The broader social, political, and built environment plays a critical role, either facilitating or impeding resilience, sometimes resulting in protective factors causing harm. This paper offers insights into how intensified containment affects access to resilience-enhancing resources.