Exploring Social and Financial Hardship, Mental Health Problems and the Role of Social Support in Asylum Seekers Using Structural Equation Modelling

Asylum seekers are exposed to a range of social and financial difficulties suggested to adversely impact mental health. Uprooted social networks and living conditions during the asylum seeking process potentially predispose this population to low access to social support. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between social and financial hardship and mental health problems, and assess the potential mediating role of social support among asylum seekers. Cross sectional survey data from a cohort of asylum seekers in Sweden (N = 455) were subjected to structural equation modelling for examining hypothesized pathways between social and financial hardship, common mental health problems (CMHPs) and social support. Fit indices showed adequate to excellent fit of the examined models with CMHPs as the outcome (all CFI ≥ 0.951, RMSEA < 0.05, SRMR < 0.056). CMHPs were positively regressed on social and financial hardship (B = 0.786, S = 0.102, p < 0.001) and negatively regressed on social support (B = −0.103, SE = 0.032, p = 0.001). Social support mediated the association between social and financial hardship and CMHPs (effect estimate = 0.075, 95% CI = 0.032–0.136). The results point to the importance of social and living conditions of asylum seekers and indicate that social support is both socially patterned and may act as a mitigating resource to inform interventions and policies.