Abstract:

Refugees often face life-threatening experiences, such as torture, assault, rape, and serious injuries, across three stages of displacement: pre-migration, in-transit, and post-migration. These traumatic events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), thereby impacting refugees’ mental health. When these individuals care for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their psychological burden can intensify, adding complexity to their resettlement experience and mental health. Hence, this study probed the mental health status and coping strategies of refugee parents of children with ASD who resettled in the United States (US). A qualitative case study design was adopted to gain an in-depth understanding of these parents’ experiences. Three research participants were recruited from a refugee organization in Indianapolis. In-person interviews were held in public settings and were guided by a list of semi-structured questions designed to elicit detailed responses about their mental health status, caregiving experiences, and coping strategies. Inductive thematic analysis of the interview data revealed two key themes: psychological distress (PD) and coping strategies. To explain, the refugee parents reported experiencing elevated levels of PD because of many factors, such as social isolation, concerns about their children’s future, problematic ASD-related behaviors, economic burden, and language barriers to accessing information about ASD. To alleviate the PD associated with caring for a child with ASD, the refugee parents utilized several coping strategies, such as reappraisal, venting emotions, and religion. Therefore, this study suggests the development of a culturally sensitive mental health (MH) intervention for refugee parents of children with ASD. The culturally sensitive MH intervention proposed by this study integrates three components: peer support groups, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychoeducational workshops.

Keywords:

Mental health, coping strategies, refugees, children with ASD, case study.