The Roles of Coping, Resilience, and Perceived Discrimination in Immigrant Domestic Violence Survivors’ Mental Health: A Brief Report
摘要
Although some evidence indicates that coping and resilience could mitigate the adverse impact of intimate partner violence on survivors’ mental health, there is limited research on how these factors manifest among immigrant survivors, who may also face in-law abuse and discrimination. This brief report explored the associations between coping, resilience, perceived discrimination, and mental health symptoms in immigrant domestic violence (DV) survivors who experienced partner and/or in-law abuse.
MethodsA self-administered online questionnaire was utilized to collect data from a sample of first, 1.5, and second-generation immigrants (n = 165) who reported experiencing DV (i.e., partner and/or in-law abuse). Multivariate linear regression models and bivariate t-tests were employed to analyze the data.
ResultsNearly half of the participants reported experiencing both partner and in-law abuse. Over one-third reported partner abuse alone, and about one-fifth reported in-law abuse alone. Perceived discrimination and avoidance coping were linked to increased mental health symptoms, while resilience was associated with fewer symptoms. Additionally, we found that perceived discrimination was associated with greater use of avoidance coping and lower resilience.
ConclusionsThe findings reveal the high prevalence of in-law abuse in both immigrant men and women DV survivors and indicate the importance of fostering resilience and addressing avoidance coping. Analysis results also highlight the role of perceived discrimination in shaping survivors’ emotional well-being, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions. This report contributes to the limited literature on the mental health of immigrant DV survivors.