Collective identity and wellbeing of Roma minority adolescents in Bulgaria

In Europe and particularly in Bulgaria, Roma represent the largest low‐status minority group that is subjected to marked public intolerance and discrimination. This study examined links among Roma (N = 207) and Bulgarian (N = 399) adolescents’ ethnic, familial, and religious identities as salient identity aspects for their psychological wellbeing. Results indicated that, as expected, Roma youth reported lower levels of wellbeing than Bulgarian youth. The latter revealed a weaker religious identity than Roma youth, whereas no ethnic group differences emerged regarding Bulgarian or familial identity. Furthermore, we observed that collective identity was higher in older participants of both groups. Finally, a multigroup analysis using structural equation modeling showed that collective identity was a positive predictor of wellbeing for both Roma and Bulgarian adolescents. Findings demonstrated differences in salience as well as structural communalities regarding ways in which collective identity affects wellbeing of youth from two ethnically diverse communities.     

Social connectedness,life satisfaction and school engagement: moderating role of ethnic minority status on resilience processes of Roma youth

Abstract

We examined the influence of connectedness on school engagement and life satisfaction among Roma (n = 121) and Bulgarian (n = 143) mainstream adolescents (mean age 15.89, SD = 1.18). A set of measures on family, peer, school and neighbourhood connectedness were administered alongside life satisfaction and school engagement scales. Multigroup path analysis indicated that while the relationship between connectedness, life satisfaction and school engagement was largely the same across groups, the strength of such relationship differed among groups. A closer inspection of the model indicated that when it comes to school engagement, there was a salient difference in the role of different forms of connectedness between Roma and mainstream adolescents. For Roma adolescents, familial connectedness was especially salient for school engagement. The practical and theoretical implications of our findings for strengths and adaptive processes among Roma adolescents in Bulgaria are discussed.     

Exploring the relationship between religious fundamentalism,life satisfaction,and meaning in life

This study explored the relationship between life satisfaction, meaning in life, and religious fundamentalism among 420 participants (28.8% male, 88.4% African, 8.4% White) residing in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was followed. Data were collected using the Meaning in Life questionnaire and the Satisfaction with Life scale, and analysed by means of latent variable modelling. Results indicated that meaning in life acted as a mediator between religious fundamentalism and life satisfaction. This suggests that in some cases, fundamentalist religious attitudes might be adaptive in that it provides its adherents with a clear framework of meaning and definite answers to life's existential uncertainties.     

Meaningful coping with chronic pain: Exploring the interplay between goal violation,meaningful coping strategies and life satisfaction in chronic pain patients

Trying to cope with chronic pain is a highly demanding and challenging task and pain patients often need to reformulate goals or aspirations due to their pain condition. This goal violation is often related with experienced distress and requires coping processes in order to decrease the distress and stimulate a healthy adaptation. Some scholars, however, argued that in so‐called unsolvable or irreparable stressors such as chronic pain, conventional coping strategies like problem‐focused coping might not be the most adaptive option. In these situations, meaningful coping strategies attempting to transform the meaning of the stressful experience would be more accurate. In this study, we aim to test if goal violation triggers meaningful coping strategies over time and whether engagement in these meaningful coping strategies result in improved life satisfaction, as an indicator of adaptation. A longitudinal three wave study in a sample of paint patients (n = 125) tests whether goal violation triggers positive reappraisal and downward comparison, two possible meaningful coping strategies. The study furthermore tests if engagement in these strategies results in a better adaptation to the pain condition, reflected in higher life satisfaction. Results partially supported our hypotheses by pointing to the benevolent role of downward comparison on life satisfaction via decreased goal violation of pain patients. Our findings however did also show that positive reappraisal predicted lower life satisfaction via increased levels of appraised goal violation which questions the role of positive reappraisal as a genuine meaningful coping strategy. Implications and limitations are discussed.