The Relationship between Family Support and Psychological Well-being among Afghan Refugee Children in Pakistan: The Mediating Role of Resilience

Abstract

The present study focused on the relationship between family support and psychological well-being in Afghan refugee children in Pakistan mediated by resilience. Refugee children face displacement, socio-economic difficulties and psychological stresses which can have a negative impact on their emotional functioning. Supportive family relationships and resilience can be important protective factors that foster positive psychological outcomes, though. A quantitative, cross sectional, correlational research design was used. This study was carried out on 150 Afghan refugee children who were selected by purposive sampling technique. Using adapted scales, data were gathered on family support, family resilience and psychological well-being. Results of the reliability analysis showed good internal consistency for the study scales with Cronbach α ranging between .84 and .88. The significant positive relationships were found between family support and resilience (r = .52, p < .01), family support and psychological well-being (r = .61, p < .01), and resilience and psychological well-being (r = .58, p < .01) using Pearson correlation analysis. In addition, mediation analysis conducted with the PROCESS Macro Model 4 of Hayes showed that the effect of family support was significantly mediated by resilience on psychological well-being. Results indicate that family support contributes to children's psychological well-being both directly and indirectly through strengthening children's resiliency. The study emphasizes the need for family oriented and resilience-building interventions to ensure the mental wellbeing and adaptive functioning of children of the Afghan refugee community in Pakistan.