Post-Migration Stress as a Moderator Between Traumatic Exposure and Self-Reported Mental Health Symptoms in a Sample of Somali Refugees

The current study examined the potentially moderating influence of post-migration living difficulties on the relationship between pre-migration traumatic exposure and self-reported symptomatology in a sample of 74 adult Somali refugees residing in the United States. Results suggest that post-migration psychosocial stressors exacerbate depressive symptoms (ΔR 2 = .068, p = .017) for those exposed to low levels of trauma relative to other posttraumatic psychological or somatic difficulties. No moderated effect was found for symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or somatic complaints.