Psychological distress among immigrant women who divorced: Resilience as a mediator

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships among the demands of immigration, resilience, and psychological distress in divorced immigrant women, and determine the mediating effects of resilience on the relationship between demands of immigration and psychological distress.

Design: The cross-sectional study included 117 women who had immigrated and married Taiwanese men but later got divorced.

Methods: The Chinese health questionnaire-12 scale, the resilience scale-Chinese version, and the demands of immigration (DI) scale were used to measure in this study. A multiple regression and Sobel test were used to examine whether resilience mediated the relationship between demands of immigration and psychological distress.

Findings: In this study, 47% of the divorced immigrant women were experiencing psychological distress, and 25.6% exhibited high levels of demands of immigration. Women with psychological distress had higher demand scores (t = 2.592, p = 0.011) and lower resilience scores (t = -3.965, p < 0.001) compared to women without psychological distress. The demands of immigration negatively predicted resilience (t = -3.050, p = 0.003). Finally, resilience mediated the association of demands of immigration with psychological distress (z = 2.497, p = 0.0125).

Conclusions: Relationships among the demands of immigration, resilience, and psychological distress in divorced immigrant women were demonstrated in this study. Resilience played an important role in the relationship between demands of immigration and psychological distress.

Clinical relevance: Tailored programs that foster resilience to reduce risks of demands of immigration and psychological distress in this vulnerable population should be developed.

Keywords: Demands of immigration; Divorce; Immigrant women; Psychological distress; Resilience.