Life Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, and Depressive Symptoms Among Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Minors: An Exploratory Study

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee minors (URMs) present with high levels of mental health problems, but also remarkable psychological resources to cope and adapt in their destination country. Research has indicated that life satisfaction and self-efficacy are resources that over time can promote adaptive psychological outcomes in children exposed to adversities. The interrelations of these resources in relation to depressive symptoms during short time spans can provide us with a better understanding of URMs’ mental health. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the longitudinal interrelations between these resources and depressive symptoms during a period of 3.5 months among youth who had participated in a trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy group intervention, Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT). Questionnaire data were collected from 120 URMs residing in Norway, at two time points (baseline and 8 weeks after the TRT). The majority were males (86%), and mean age was 17.22 (1.72). Most of them were from Afghanistan (61%) and Eritrea (22%), and 82% reported clinical-range levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms at baseline. The results from a cross-lagged panel analysis showed that life satisfaction positively predicted self-efficacy and negatively predicted depressive symptoms at the subsequent time point among participants. There were no effects from self-efficacy or depressive symptoms on life satisfaction across time, but there was co-development of all three variables. This exploratory study indicates that for URMs in Norway, higher levels of life satisfaction are associated with positive mental health outcomes over a 3-month time. Future research should continue exploring how life satisfaction affects URMs’ resilience and building new knowledge about the complexities of their mental health.