Psychological adjustment of Southeast Asian refugees: The contribution of sense of coherence

Abstract

This study examines the contribution of sense of coherence and resistance deficits and resources to the psychological adjustment of five Southeast Asian refugee groups (713 Vietnamese, 492 Cambodians, 551 Laotians, 231 Hmong, 245 Chinese-Vietnamese). It is hypothesized that sense of coherence (i.e., the experience of life as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful) (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987) directly predicts psychological adjustment as measured by happiness and demoralization. Also, resistance deficits (being male, the experience of trauma, and cultural traditionalism) and resistance resources (a younger age at arrival and longer residence in the United States, higher education, employment, greater English competence, and living in an area with a greater co-ethnic density) are postulated to both directly and indirectly (through their effect on sense of coherence) predict happiness and demoralization. These hypotheses are generally supported by the results of this study, with sense of coherence emerging as a most powerful predictor of psychological adjustment for refugees. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Inc.