Subjective well-being, sense of coherence, trauma and psychopathological symptoms predict mental health of Sub Saharan forced migrants. A quantitative exploratory study

Considering the urgent need to tackle mental health challenges related to forced migration, our exploratory quantitative study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective well-being (SWB), sense of coherence (SOC), trauma and psychopathological symptoms on the mental health of African forced migrants in Niger. We also explored the association of gender, age, ethnicity, and displacement status with SWB, SOC, psychological symptoms, and psychological distress in this population. The study included 410 African forcibly displaced adults (M = 38.10, SD = ± 14.56). Participants were assessed using the WHO-5 for subjective well-being, GHQ-12 for psychological distress, SOC_3 for the sense of coherence, and IES and SCL-27 for traumatic and psychopathological symptomatology, respectively. Our findings indicated significant gender differences in GHQ-12 scores, with females scoring higher and exhibiting higher levels of anxiety, somatization, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. MANOVA revealed significant differences in age, status, and ethnicity. Younger individuals showed higher total symptomatology, while refugees had higher levels of subjective well-being and sense of coherence, but also higher levels of depression and paranoia. Different ethnicities exhibited diverse symptom profiles. Furthermore, the multiple regression analysis highlighted that subjective well-being and sense of coherence had a negative effect on mental health, whereas trauma and psychopathology had a positive effect. Additionally, anxiety and trauma were positively correlated with mental distress. Overall, our study emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing the mental health needs of displaced populations. Targeted interventions and further research are essential to address the complex issues surrounding mental health among forced migrants. Moreover, a comprehensive approach to studying and intervening on mental health issues in this vulnerable population is strongly emphasized.