Measuring culturally and contextually specific distress among Afghan, Iraqi, and Great Lakes African refugees

Authors

Ryeora Choe, Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico
David T Lardier, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico
Julia Meredith Hess, Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico
Meredith A Blackwell, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico
Suha Amer, United Voices for Newcomer Rights
Martin Ndayisenga, United Voices for Newcomer Rights
Sara Deewa, United Voices for Newcomer Rights
Brian Isakson, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico
Jessica R Goodkind, Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-15-2024

Abstract

Culturally and contextually valid measurement of psychological distress is critical, given the increasing numbers of forcibly displaced people and transnational migration. This study replicates an inductive process that elicited culturally specific expressions, understandings, and idioms of distress among Afghans to develop culturally specific measures of distress for Great Lakes Africans and Iraqis and expands this methodology to include a focus on the contexts of refugees resettled in the United States. To create the measures, we adapted Miller et al.'s (2006) model for the

Publisher

American Orthopsychiatric Association

Publication Title

The American journal of orthopsychiatry

ISSN

1939-0025

DOI

10.1037/ort0000718

Recommended Citation

Choe R, Lardier DT, Hess JM, Blackwell MA, Amer S, Ndayisenga M, Deewa S, Isakson B, Goodkind JR. Measuring culturally and contextually specific distress among Afghan, Iraqi, and Great Lakes African refugees. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2024 Jan 15. doi: 10.1037/ort0000718. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38227460.