Risk and resilience: The moderating role of social coping for maternal mental health in a setting of political conflict

Abstract

Violence can threaten individual well-being and tear at the social fabric of communities. At the same time, suffering can mobilize social coping and mutual support. Thus, the backdrop of political violence increases risk factors and stimulates resilience. The current study examined the moderating role of social coping as reflective of risk and resiliency in Northern Ireland, a setting of protracted conflict. Specifically, structural equation modeling was used to investigate whether social coping protects from or exacerbates the negative impact of sectarian crime and nonsectarian crime on maternal mental health (N=631). Nonsectarian crime predicted greater psychological distress for mothers in Belfast. Mixed support was found for the buffering and depletion moderation hypotheses; social coping functioned differently for nonsectarian crime and sectarian crime. Greater social coping buffered mothers’ psychological distress from the negative effects of nonsectarian crime, but exacerbated maternal mental health problems when facing sectarian crime. Results suggest that social coping is a complex phenomenon, particularly in settings of protracted political violence. Implications for interventions aimed at alleviating psychological distress by enhancing mothers’ social coping in contexts of intergroup conflict are discussed.

A Social–Ecological, Process‐Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development

“…Social identity as reflected in ethnic group identity has long been held pertinent to understanding the impact of contexts of intergroup sectarian conflict (Cairns, 1996). Social identity refers to an individual's self-categorization as a member of a particular group and the evaluative meaning of that group membership (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Thus, the strength of identification with a group in conflict is likely to alter the psychological experience of group-based conflicts such as that in Northern Ireland.…”

Political Violence and Adolescent Out‐group Attitudes and Prosocial Behaviors: Implications for Positive Inter‐group Relations

“…Following the peace agreements in South Africa and Northern Ireland, levels of common crime have increased as forms of political or sectarian violence declined (Police Service of Northern Ireland, ; Shirlow et al., ; van der Merwe & Dawes, ). The impact of non‐sectarian crime, or intra‐group antisocial behaviors, has also been shown to have distinct effects on child adjustment and family processes (Cummings et al., , ; Taylor et al., ). Other post‐accord challenges, such as daily hardships and community acceptance, have also been found to have predictive power for youth outcomes independent of war experiences (Betancourt et al., ).…”

Individual and Collective Dimensions of Resilience Within Political Violence

“…Taylor et al (2012) found that social support protected mental health from the negative effects of nonsectarian violence, but exacerbated mental health problems resulting from sectarian (i.e. political) violence.…”