Self-stigma, resilience, perceived quality of social relationships, and psychological distress among Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong: A mediation model.

Abstract

Filipina domestic helpers (FDH) make up nearly 3% of the Hong Kong population. Research suggests that FDH are at risk for self-stigmatization and poor mental health. However, little is known about how FDH’s self-perceptions and individual characteristics are associated with their perceived quality of social relationships and mental health. This study examined how self-stigma and resilience might be associated with psychological distress among FDH in Hong Kong and how perceived quality of social relationships (loneliness and perceived social support) might mediate such associations. FDH in Hong Kong (N = 346) were recruited to complete a cross-sectional survey measuring their levels of self-stigma, resilience, loneliness, perceived social support, and psychological distress. Controlling for covariates, path analyses results supported the proposed mediation model with a satisfactory model fit. The indirect effects from self-stigma to distress via increased loneliness and reduced social support, plus those from resilience to distress via reduced loneliness and increased social support, were significant, supporting that perceived quality of social relationships mediated between self-stigma/resilience and psychological distress. Moreover, the direct effect from self-stigma (but not resilience) on distress remained significant after considering the mediators. Self-stigma and resilience could contribute to psychological distress among FDH through changing their perceptions of social relationship quality. Our findings implied that interventions that target reducing self-stigma, cultivating resilience, and enhancing perceptions about quality of social relationships might alleviate psychological distress among FDH in Hong Kong.

Feeling Anxious amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychosocial Correlates of Anxiety Symptoms among Filipina Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong

“…Fourth, our sample was quite highly educated, with more than half of the sample reported to have college education. However, local studies among Southeast Asian domestic helpers reported comparable education levels with our sample (over 90% received secondary and tertiary education) [25,54]. Generalizations of our findings to FDHs with different demographic characteristics must be made with caution.…”

“…It has been found that FDHs' opportunities to seek emotional and material support from their peers might have been reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures [20]; the role of social support is, therefore, important. Previously, the protective role of social support in psychological well-being was found among Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong [25]. We expected that social support would be associated with lower anxiety symptoms among FDHs coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…It is common for FDHs to gather at public venues like parks and playgrounds during weekends [33]. Similar methods have been used in previous studies on FDHs in Hong Kong [16,25]. Prior to participation, prospective participants were briefed about the study during recruitment on-site.…”

“…Third, we only recruited participants who could finish the questionnaire in English. Given that English is the language of written and spoken communication by FDHs employed in Hong Kong, this study used a similar research design to that of other local studies by administering the questionnaire in English [25,53]. We acknowledge that such inclusion criteria might compromise the representativeness of the sample; however, we believe that our strategy could still be acceptable in providing preliminary evidence for novel research areas.…”

Finding the silver linings in the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychosocial correlates of adversarial growth among Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong.

“…Hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine the associations between the independent variables and adversarial growth. The sequence of entering independent variables followed the suggestions from prior studies applying the Stress and Coping model in the contexts of chronic illnesses and other traumatic events (Yeung et al, 2016, 2020). In the first step, COVID-19 distress, work-related stress, and background variables showing significant associations with adversarial growth in bivariate correlations were entered.…”