Racial Microaggression, Intolerance of Uncertainty and Minority Stress among Syrian Refugees: Conditional Effects of Age and Length of Stay

Background : Refugees are often systematically exposed to racial microaggressions. It is important to understand to what extent and which psychosocial processes are affected by microaggressive experiences in the integration process with the local population. In addition, understanding the demographic structures that determine this process will facilitate the handling of the problem as a whole. Aim : To investigate the role of intolerance of uncertainty in the effect of racial microaggression on minority stress among Syrian Refugees and to examine the moderating effect of age and length of stay in this moderated mediation model. Design : Cross-sectional design suitable for quantitative study. Method : Data were collected between January and February 2024 for a sample of 395 Syrian asylum seekers, representative of the general population. The effect of moderation and mediation was tested with the PROCESS macro (Model 5) for SPSS 23.0 by Hayes using 5000 bootstrap samples. Results : Intolerance of uncertainty significantly mediated the relationship between racial microaggression and minority stress at 95% confidence intervals, not including zero. Age moderated the relationship between racial microaggression and minority stress, while length of stay did not have a significant moderating effect on the same relationship. Conclusion : Excessive exposure to racial microaggressions may increase Syrian asylum seekers' intolerance to uncertainty and minority stress, and such psychosocial problems are at higher risk in older asylum seekers.