Türkiye'deki mülteci ve sığınmacıların ruh sağlığı ve entegrasyonu: Suriyeliler ve Afganlar

There is an unprecedented increase in the number of global forced displacements. More than 100 million people are forcibly displaced due to ongoing conflict and violence. Among them, 27.1 million fled and sought refuge in other countries. Turkey currently hosts 4 million refugees and asylum seekers as the major hosting country. Syrians and Afghans are the largest refugee groups in the country. Refugees and asylum seekers are at increased risk of developing mental health problems due to conflict and displacement-related experiences. The present dissertation aimed to examine the different aspects of and the interplay between mental health problems and integration among Syrian and Afghan displaced communities in Turkey. In Chapter 2, I examined the role of conflict-related traumatic experiences in cultural integration outcomes among Syrian refugees. The results showed the adverse impact of exposure to potentially traumatic incidents in the home country or en route to the destination country on maintaining Syrian culture and adopting Turkish culture. Conflict-related traumatic experiences seemed to deplete their emotion-focused coping strategies, which were conducive to cultural integration. Findings highlight the necessity of providing trauma-informed, emotion-focused psychosocial interventions to foster the integration of Syrian refugees. Chapter 3 focused on the mental health impacts of COVID-19 among Syrian refugees. The results showed that the COVID-19-related resource loss and perceived discrimination adversely impacted the participants' mental health. However, social support was a protective factor in the face of pandemic-related resource loss. These findings reveal the precarious conditions of Syrian refugees during the pandemic. In Chapter 4, I examined the prevalence of common mental health problems and associated risk factors among Syrian and Afghan refugees in Turkey. Compared to Syrians, Afghans were at heightened risk of developing mental health problems. They also reported a higher level of conflict and displacement-related stressors. Exposure to conflict-related traumatic experiences and post-displacement stressors (socio-economic and structural) were the significant risk factors for mental health for both groups. Several risk factors related to socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education) were identified. These results draw attention to the increased vulnerabilities of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers in Turkey, possibly related to their entrenched migration history and legal status. Finally, Chapter 5 investigated the role of conflict and displacement-related stressors on socio-cultural integration among Afghan refugees. Experiencing conflict-related traumatic experiences was a significant risk factor for socio-cultural integration, while post-displacement stressors did not directly predict socio-cultural integration. However, mental health problems played a significant role in explaining the relationship between conflict and displacement-related stressors and integration outcomes. These results provide the first empirical evidence for one of the most overlooked aspects of integration among one of the least studied asylum-seeking communities. Findings reveal the crucial role of mental health in integration and the need to provide psychosocial support to promote the integration process. Overall, the present dissertation contributed to the literature, practice, and policy in several ways. The findings highlight the intricated relationship between mental health and integration, the role of a wide range of stressors for mental health and integration, the adverse social, economic, and psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and lastly, the similarities and differences between the two major asylum-seeking communities in Turkey in terms of conflict-related stressors and mental health problems. Keywords: Syrians, Afghans, mental health, integration, Turkey