The Functionality of Communal Coping in Chronic Uncertainty Environments: The Context of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon.

Most research suggests that communal coping, where a group of people own and act upon a shared stressor or uncertainty together, enhances mental health and fosters coping efficacy. The majority of this research, however, has been conducted in the United States in contexts where stress and uncertainty are relatively short-lived and with samples that are economically secure and moderately to highly educated. The purpose of this study was to understand how socio-emotional conditions, such as exposure to trauma and interparental conflict, influence the functionality of communal coping for adolescents in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, where chronic uncertainty is normative. One hundred eighty-five Palestinian adolescents (M age = 15.75) residing in two refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon completed a cross-sectional survey. The results showed that communal coping with immediate family members was only beneficial for adolescents' mental health and hopelessness when their parents had moderate to little conflict and not high levels of conflict. Similarly, when adolescents had experienced trauma, engaging in high levels of communal coping accentuated, as opposed to buffered, the harmful effects of uncertainty on mental health.

The relative impacts of uncertainty and mothers' communication on hopelessness among Palestinian refugee youth.

The life of adolescent refugees has been described as uncertainty laden. Yet no quantitative data exist to elucidate that experience of uncertainty, investigate its implications in that population, or explore potential moderators. This study applies the Entropy Model of Uncertainty (Hirsh, Mar, & Peterson, 2012) and the stress-buffering hypothesis (for review, see Hegelson, 2003) to examine the experience of uncertainty among adolescent Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon. It then tests the role of mothers' uncertainty-related communication for adolescent hopelessness. One hundred and sixty-two adolescents across 2 refugee camps in Lebanon participated in the study. Results support the existence of elevated levels of uncertainty about both personal and macrosecurity, show an association between uncertainty regarding personal security and levels of hopelessness, and suggest that uncertainty's negative impact may overwhelm the role of mothers' supportive communication as a buffer against hopelessness. Interestingly, the data also suggest surprisingly little hopelessness in this population.