Social capital and mental health problems among Syrian refugee adolescents: the mediating roles of perceived social support and post-traumatic symptoms

Abstract

Background: Social capital is one of the prominent components of refugee mental health. However, its role on mental health is poorly understood. Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the nature of the association between social capital and mental health problems in refugee adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study with three hundred twenty-one 12- to 18-year-old Syrian refugee adolescents was conducted in Turkey. We administered the Arabic versions of the following instruments in school settings: The Social Trust, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), The Children's Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8) and The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The mediation analyses with Hayes' PROCESS Macro revealed that perceived social support and the intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms fully mediated the relationship between social capital and mental health problems. Conclusion: The results suggested social trust's two distinct functions which impair the likelihood of mental health problems: (a) social trust might help to facilitate perceived social support from family and friends and (b) social trust might impair the intensity of traumatic experiences.