The stress-support patterns and psychological distress of immigrants

The effects of various stressors and sources of social support on the psych ological distress of immigrants were examined. Key variables were measured using the Perceived Immigration Related Stressors Scale, the Multidimension al Scale of perceived Social Support and the Talbieh Brief Distress Invento ry. Data were collected from a community-based sample of 565 adult individu als who recently emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Israel. The most significant stressors reported by immigrants were material-related, follow ed by culture-, information-, and health-related stressors. Those who perce ived that social support was readily available had lower distress ratings t han others who believed that social support was not forthcoming. Subjects r eported significantly greater social support from family and significant ot hers, than from friends. Social resources (especially support from friends) deterred distress under low stress conditions, but lost the deterring effe ct as stressors increased. Multiple regression analyses indicated that vari ous combinations of stressors and social support resources explained 50 per cent of the variance in psychological distress under low stress conditions and 37 per cent of the variance as stress intensity increased. in conclusi on, the study demonstrates that (1) social-stress factors affect psychologi cal distress and symptoms, (2) social support resources mediate the effects of stressors on psychological distress, and (3) variability in psychologic al distress is rooted in differential stress-support patterns. Copyright (C ) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.