Die Resilienz von Geflüchteten in Deutschland

Resilience is the ability to overcome challenging situations without suffering negative health effects. Refugees forced to leave their home countries due to threats or persecution face various challenges that they must overcome. Resilience serves as a significant protective factor in this context. However, there is a lack of statistical analyses on the resilience of refugees in Germany. This study explores the question of how the resilience level of refugees compares to the German population (considering sociodemographic characteristics) and to what extent social support, assimilation, and perception of host country conditions are associated with resilience.

The questions are examined using the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees from 2016 and a population survey from 2013 in Germany. Resilience was assessed using the Brief Resilience Coping Scale (BRCS). Uni-, bi-, and multivariate statistical analyses were conducted to address the research questions.

The average resilience of refugees (n = 3776), considering the original scale (4–20), is 16.9 (standard deviation, SD = ±3.2). In contrast, the German population (n = 2508) has a considerably lower mean resilience score (14.7 [SD = ±3.2]). Even when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, refugees exhibit a significantly higher level of resilience compared to the German population. Reciprocity, assimilation, and the perception of host country conditions are statistically significantly associated with resilience.

Improving host country conditions and promoting refugees’ individual abilities to communicate, orient themselves, and act in the host country enhances their resilience.