The Role of Resilience in Relation to Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Syrian Refugee Adolescents in Türkiye

Abstract

Objectives: Mental health problems and post-traumatic stress symptoms are prevalent among adolescent refugees, yet little is known about the role of resilience in relation to these difficulties among Syrian adolescents. This study examined the unique contribution of resilience to mental health problems and post-traumatic stress symptoms after controlling for age and gender. Methods: Participants were 501 Syrian refugee adolescents residing in Ankara, Türkiye (63.67% male; aged 12–18 years, M = 15.72, SD = 1.61), recruited through multistage cluster sampling in 15 schools. They completed the Brief Resilience Scale, the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Five hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted, entering age and gender at Step 1 and resilience at Step 2. Results: After controlling for age and gender, resilience was significantly and negatively associated with depression (β = −0.11, p < 0.05), anxiety (β = −0.19, p < 0.01), stress (β = −0.15, p < 0.01), intrusion (β = −0.14, p < 0.01), and avoidance (β = −0.15, p < 0.01), explaining a modest but consistent proportion of unique variance (1–3%). Conclusions: These findings suggest that resilience is a modest but consistent correlate of mental health and post-traumatic stress symptoms among Syrian refugee adolescents in Türkiye. Longitudinal studies incorporating trauma exposure and multi-level resilience resources are needed before causal or intervention-related conclusions can be drawn.