Religious Coping, Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety, and Physical and Emotional Well-being in Young Adult College Somalis

Background: Minnesota hosts the largest Somali population of any state in the U.S., with a median age of 25 years; Somalis are 12 years younger than the general population. Published reports reveal moderate to high rates of anxiety, depression, chemical use and trauma among young adult Somalis. Academic settings are ideal for prevention of mental health disorders and promotion of physical and emotional well-being. Religious coping is a strong predictor of health outcomes, but there are few studies conducted with young, non-western, non-Christian samples.

Objective: Examine the relationships among positive and negative religious coping, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and physical and emotional well-being among Somali college students in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Conceptual framework: A conceptual model of the relationships among the study variables was developed to illustrate the complex relationships that might be present.

Method:  The online, cross-sectional survey includes: demographics, acculturation, critical life events, and standardized measures of the key variables (Brief RCOPE [positive & negative religious coping], Partial Symptom Checklist – SCL-90R [anxiety, depression], SF-12 Health Survey [physical & emotional well-being]. It was piloted with eight students and a community advisory board and revised prior to use in this study. Participants are currently being recruited at four Twin Cities universities. The intended sample size is 150. Data collection is over 70% complete. In addition to descriptive statistics, bivariate and structural equation modeling procedures will be used for data analyses.

Results and Conclusions: Results, conclusions and future implications will be presented at the conference.