Emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between trauma exposure, post-migration living difficulties and psychological outcomes in traumatized refugees

BackgroundWhile emotion dysregulation represents an important mechanism underpinning psychological responses to trauma, little research has investigated this in refugees. In the current study, we examined the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between refugee experiences (trauma and living difficulties) and psychological outcomes.MethodsParticipants were 134 traumatized treatment-seeking refugees who completed measures indexing trauma exposure, post-migration living difficulties, difficulties in emotion regulation, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and explosive anger.ResultsFindings revealed distinctive patterns of emotion dysregulation associated with each of these psychological disorders. Results also indicated that emotion regulation difficulties mediated the association between both trauma and psychological symptoms, and living difficulties and psychological symptoms.LimitationsLimitations include a cross-sectional design and the use of measures that had not been validated across all cultural groups in this study.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the key role of emotion dysregulation in psychological responses of refugees, and highlight potential directions for treatment interventions for traumatized refugees.