Perceived discrimination, religiosity and mental health of Afghan refugees in Russia

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of relationships between perceived discrimination, religiosity and psychological distress of Afghan refugees living in Russia. The study included 96 respondents: 54 men and 42 women, aged 18-55 years. To determine the level of distress, Afghan Distress Symptom Checklist (ASCL), specifi cally developed for the Afghan sample, was used (Miller, et al., 2006). To measure perceived discrimination, we used a scale from the MIRIPS questionnaire (Berry, 2017). The degree of religiosity is assessed according to the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) (Huber, Huber, 2012). Analysis of the research results confi rm our hypothesis that the higher the perceived discrimination, the higher the level of psychological distress. The study also proves that the positive relationship between perceived discrimination and distress is weakened with a higher level of religiosity displayed and just the opposite, such relationships get stronger when the level of religiosity is low. This suggests that for Afghan refugees-respondents living in Russia, adherence to their religion acts as a buff er against discrimination and distress.