IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i22p8365-d443700.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Support and Emotional Well-Being of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Ruth León-Pinilla

    (Department of Translation and Intercultural Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, European University of Valencia, 46021 Valencia, Spain)

  • Ana Soto-Rubio

    (Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Treatments, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46021 Valencia, Spain)

  • Vicente Prado-Gascó

    (Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46021 Valencia, Spain)

Abstract

Although the world’s forcibly displaced population reached 79.5 million in 2019, their difficult situations and the issues they struggle with remain practically invisible in Spanish society. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide greater insight into an invisible reality to improve the refugees’ situation. The present cross-sectional study aims to draw a general profile of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ main characteristics in Spain and their well-being. A total of 186 refugees living in Spain participated. An ad-hoc questionnaire was administered to obtain data regarding sociodemographic profile, language skills, and social and institutional support. A standardized instrument, SPANE, was used to measure well-being. It can be seen that healthcare, followed by legal aid, are the easiest to access. On the other hand, finding a job, having money, and finding housing are the most difficult. In general, it seems possible to say that the refugees present more positive feelings than negative ones, which implies a positive emotional balance, although the average score obtained for emotional balance is quite far from the highest possible score. We consider this to be a pivotal first step which can provide useful information for the further design of aid strategies to improve this vulnerable group’s situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth León-Pinilla & Ana Soto-Rubio & Vicente Prado-Gascó, 2020. "Support and Emotional Well-Being of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8365-:d:443700
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8365/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8365/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karsten Klingberg & Adrian Stoller & Martin Müller & Sabrina Jegerlehner & Adam D. Brown & Aristomenis Exadaktylos & Anne Jachmann & David Srivastava, 2020. "Asylum Seekers and Swiss Nationals with Low-Acuity Complaints: Disparities in the Perceived level of Urgency, Health Literacy and Ability to Communicate—A Cross-Sectional Survey at a Tertiary Emergenc," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Elena Riza & Pania Karnaki & Alejandro Gil-Salmerón & Konstantina Zota & Maxwell Ho & Maria Petropoulou & Konstantinos Katsas & Jorge Garcés-Ferrer & Athena Linos, 2020. "Determinants of Refugee and Migrant Health Status in 10 European Countries: The Mig-HealthCare Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Janet M. Wilmoth & Pei-Chun Chen, 2003. "Immigrant Status, Living Arrangements, and Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(5), pages 305-313.
    4. Anna Leiler & Michael Hollifield & Elisabet Wasteson & Anna Bjärtå, 2019. "Suicidal Ideation and Severity of Distress among Refugees Residing in Asylum Accommodations in Sweden," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-7, August.
    5. Thomas Hormenu & Elyssa M. Shoup & Nana H. Osei-Tutu & Arsene F. Hobabagabo & Christopher W. DuBose & Lilian S. Mabundo & Stephanie T. Chung & Margrethe F. Horlyck-Romanovsky & Anne E. Sumner, 2020. "Stress Measured by Allostatic Load Varies by Reason for Immigration, Age at Immigration, and Number of Children: The Africans in America Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Danny Sheath & Antoine Flahault & Joachim Seybold & Luciano Saso, 2020. "Diverse and Complex Challenges to Migrant and Refugee Mental Health: Reflections of the M8 Alliance Expert Group on Migrant Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-10, May.
    7. Ed Diener & Derrick Wirtz & William Tov & Chu Kim-Prieto & Dong-won Choi & Shigehiro Oishi & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2010. "New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 143-156, June.
    8. Victoria A. Schlaudt & Rahel Bosson & Monnica T. Williams & Benjamin German & Lisa M. Hooper & Virginia Frazier & Ruth Carrico & Julio Ramirez, 2020. "Traumatic Experiences and Mental Health Risk for Refugees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-10, March.
    9. Yulisha Byrow & Rosanna Pajak & Tadgh McMahon & Amitabh Rajouria & Angela Nickerson, 2019. "Barriers to Mental Health Help-Seeking Amongst Refugee Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Christina Nowak & Yudit Namer & Claudia Hornberg, 2022. "Health Care for Refugees in Europe: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-10, January.
    2. Maw–Der Foo & Marilyn A. Uy & Charles Murnieks, 2015. "Beyond Affective Valence: Untangling Valence and Activation Influences on Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 407-431, March.
    3. Merrick Powell & Kirk N. Olsen & William Forde Thompson, 2023. "Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Nelli Ferenczi & Tara C Marshall, 2013. "Exploring Attachment to the “Homeland” and Its Association with Heritage Culture Identification," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Erin Percival Carter & Stephanie Welcomer, 2021. "Designing and Distinguishing Meaningful Artisan Food Experiences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-13, July.
    6. Annamaria Di Fabio & Maureen E. Kenny, 2018. "Intrapreneurial Self-Capital: A Key Resource for Promoting Well-Being in a Shifting Work Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-11, August.
    7. Asude Malkoç & Aynur Kesen Mutlu, 2019. "Mediating the Effect of Cognitive Flexibility in the Relationship between Psychological Well-Being and Self-Confidence: A Study on Turkish University Students," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(6), pages 278-278, December.
    8. Kamlesh Singh & Mahima Raina, 2020. "Demographic Correlates and Validation of PERMA and WEMWBS Scales in Indian Adolescents," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1175-1186, August.
    9. Hezhi Chen & Zhijia Zeng, 2023. "Seeking Pleasure is Good, but Avoiding Pain is Bad: Distinguishing Hedonic Approach from Hedonic Avoidance Orientations," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 2377-2393, October.
    10. Jacky C. K. Ng & Algae K. Y. Au & Helen S. M. Wong & Carmen K. M. Sum & Victor C. Y. Lau, 2021. "Does Dispositional Envy Make You Flourish More (or Less) in Life? An Examination of Its Longitudinal Impact and Mediating Mechanisms Among Adolescents and Young Adults," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1089-1117, March.
    11. Ana Junça-Silva, 2022. "Friends with Benefits: The Positive Consequences of Pet-Friendly Practices for Workers’ Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-10, January.
    12. Wenjie Li & Linting Zhang & Chengcheng Li & Ningzhe Zhu & Jingjing Zhao & Feng Kong, 2022. "Pursuing Pleasure or Meaning: A Cross-Lagged Analysis of Happiness Motives and Well-being in Adolescents," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 3981-3999, December.
    13. Du, Yao & Sun, Guibo & Heinen, Eva, 2024. "Does subjective wellbeing modify travel behaviour changes among older people in response to a new metro line?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    14. Liu, Yinan & Zai, Xianhua, 2022. "The Benefits of Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services on Health," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1079, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Reuben D. Rusk, 2022. "An Adaptive Motivation Approach to Understanding the ‘How’ and ‘Why’ of Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-24, October.
    16. Isabell Koinig, 2022. "Picturing Mental Health on Instagram: Insights from a Quantitative Study Using Different Content Formats," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, January.
    17. Horacio Molina-Sánchez & Gabriele Giorgi & Dante Castillo Guajardo & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2022. "Special Issue “Rethinking the Subjective Wellbeing for a New Workplace Scenario”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-6, April.
    18. Liila Taruffi, 2021. "Mind-Wandering during Personal Music Listening in Everyday Life: Music-Evoked Emotions Predict Thought Valence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-22, November.
    19. Vento, Elli & Tammi, Timo & McCabe, Scott & Komppula, Raija, 2020. "Re-evaluating well-being outcomes of social tourism: Evidence from Finland," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    20. Sakari Kainulainen, 2022. "Concurrent Assessments of Individuals’ Affect and Contentment and the Correlation of these Estimates to Overall Happiness at Specific Moments," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3151-3174, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8365-:d:443700. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.