Acculturative Stress among Arab Students in Israel: The Roles of Sense of Coherence and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Background: In Israeli colleges and universities, many Arab students experience acculturative stress. Such stress arises from the need to learn new cultural rules, manage the overarching conflict inherent in maintaining elements of their culture of origin (i.e., Arab culture) while incorporating elements of the host culture (i.e., Jewish academic culture), and deal with experiences of prejudice and discrimination present in the host culture. Methods: This study investigated the association between acculturative stress and depressive symptoms among 170 Arab undergraduates from northern and central Israel. It also explored the roles of sense of coherence and coping strategies in the relationship between acculturative stress and depressive symptoms. Participants completed questionnaires on acculturative stress, depressive symptoms, sense of coherence, coping strategies, and demographics. Results: The findings reveal gender differences in the use of different coping strategies and in levels of depressive symptoms. However, academic-year differences were found only in levels of sense of coherence and depressive symptoms. Specifically, female students expressed higher levels of both active and avoidant coping. Moreover, female students and those in their first and second years of university studies reported higher levels of depressive symptoms. Among the male students, acculturative stress was related to depressive symptoms indirectly via sense of coherence and active coping. In contrast, among the female students, acculturative stress was related to depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly via sense of coherence and avoidant coping. Among first- and second-year students, acculturative stress was related to depressive symptoms indirectly via sense of coherence and avoidant coping. However, among third- and fourth-year students, acculturative stress was related to depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly via sense of coherence. Conclusions: This article underscores the significance of gender and academic-year differences in pathways involving acculturative stress.

Validation of the factor structure and psychometric characteristics of the Arabic adaptation of the sense of coherence SOC-13 scale: a confirmatory factor analysis

“…Very recently, Abu-Kaf and Khalaf [2020] [ 20 ] evaluated the relationship between depression and acculturative stress in (n = 170) Arab undergraduate students. They used the SOC-13 scale to assess the protective impact of the sense of coherence on the depression-acculturative stress association.…”

Structural Equation Model for Evaluating Factors Affecting Health-related Quality of Life in Adolescents With Moyamoya Disease: Based on Salutogenesis Theory

“…Adolescents with moyamoya disease are more stressed than other adolescents due to their disease and other developmental challenges, triggering adverse health conditions and symptoms. Sense of coherence and social support have been shown to assist in recovery and promote health by improving an individual's ability to cope with stress as reported in studies of adolescents with other chronic diseases [14]. These results indicate that it is necessary to include social support in the model.…”

“…It explains the problem-solving process in greater detail so that the individual may more easily adopt health-promoting behaviors.Adolescents with moyamoya disease are more stressed than other adolescents due to their disease and other developmental challenges, triggering adverse health conditions and symptoms. Sense of coherence and social support have been shown to assist in recovery and promote health by improving an individual's ability to cope with stress as reported in studies of adolescents with other chronic diseases [14]. These results indicate that it is necessary to include social support in the model.Therefore, this study uses the salutogenesis theory to investigate whether the core factors-sense of coherence, stress, social support, health behaviors, health status, and quality of life-affect the health of adolescents with chronic diseases.…”

Estrategias de afrontamiento en los conflictos entre adolescentes: revisión sistemática

“…Además, es necesario resaltar la existencia de diferencias en relación con las estrategias de afrontamiento según tanto el sexo como la edad. En relación con el sexo, se muestra que las mujeres tienden a afrontar los problemas de la manera más resolutiva posible, mientras que los hombres se caracterizan por evitar el problema o ser más impulsivos (Abu-Kaf & Khalaf, 2020;Barcelata et al, 2016;Clark & Marcon, 1997;Pena et al, 2011). En cuanto a la edad, los sujetos de mayor edad o de cursos superiores tienden a utilizar estrategias de afrontamiento relacionadas con la resolución del conflicto como es el apoyo social y tienen un mayor control de los impulsos; al contrario de los sujetos de menor edad o cursos inferiores, quienes muestran estrategias más relacionadas con la evitación o conductas agresivas (Diehl et al, 1996;James & Owens, 2004;Lee & Chan, 1993;Sittichai & Smith, 2018).…”