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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Differences in psychological distress across different stressor types among migrants

Moujan Tofighi1 ,  Michael Linden1*
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1 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
JCBP, 025100020 https://doi.org/10.36922/JCBP025100020
Received: 7 March 2025 | Revised: 19 June 2025 | Accepted: 4 December 2025 | Published online: 7 April 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Negative life events can lead to distress and mental illness, but they may also result in eustress and personal growth, depending on the type of stressor and an individual’s resilience. To further examine the relationship between stressor type and psychological response, we studied refugees who frequently encounter diverse stressors across the pre-, during-, and post-migration phases. In refugee centers in Berlin, Germany, 93 Farsi-speaking migrants were surveyed using a 19-item list of migration-related stressors, the Adjustment Disorder New Module-8, the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), the Psychological Well-Being Scale, the EUROHIS Quality-of-Life scale, the Everyday Discrimination Scale, and the Multidimensional Wisdom Competency Scale. At least one stressor was reported by 93.5% of participants, most frequently private burdens (87.1%), followed by chicane (79.6%) and violence (54.8%). Stressor frequencies were comparable to findings from general-population studies. When absolute scale scores were compared with published norms, psychological distress appeared elevated but did not reach pathological levels. Overall distress (SCL-90-R) increased significantly in association with all violence-related items and with most chicane and private burdens. Quality of life was reduced by violence-related and chicane stressors, but not by private problems. Discrimination scores differed significantly for all violence items, most chicane items, and the private problems of loneliness and separation. Embitterment increased in response to all violence-related stressors, as well as to personal discrimination and disrespect; among private problems, only separation from loved ones was associated with higher embitterment. Wisdom scores showed no significant differences except for experiences of hostage situations and job loss. Participants reported numerous migration-related negative life events, yet overall stressor frequencies resembled those of the general population. Psychological measures indicated elevated distress without reaching pathological thresholds. Different stressors produced distinct psychological reactions. Migration is distressing but neither a uniform experience nor inherently traumatic.

Keywords
Adjustment disorder
Quality of life
Trauma
Negative life events
Funding
This study was supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
Conflict of interest
Michael Linden serves as the Editor-in-Chief of this journal but was not involved in the editorial or peer-review process for this paper, either directly or indirectly. Separately, the other author declares no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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