Purpose: Displacement is traumatic and often an unwanted social change that can lead to a loss of identity and socioeconomic, physical, and psychological livelihood. The purpose of the study was to describe the association of perceived health and right-of-return hopefulness to depressive symptom severity in Palestinian refugees, taking into consideration gender and poverty. Design: The descriptive, correlational study was framed within a socioecological lens. Data collection occurred between October 2015 and November 2015 in Amman, Jordan, which hosts the most Palestinian refugees in the world. The participants in the sample (N = 177) had a mean age of 36.9 years. Methods: Participants responded to the Patient Health Questionnaire for depressive symptom severity, the RAND-36 perceived health item, and a statement about hopefulness to return to Palestine. Descriptive, correlation, and logistic and linear regression analyses were computed. Findings: Results showed that 43% of participants had moderate to severe depressive symptoms, 42% lived in poverty, and 20% had fair or poor health; yet, 60% were hopeful about returning to Palestine. Participants who had better perceived health and right-of-return hopefulness were less likely to have symptoms of major depression. Perceived health was the only factor—not gender, poverty, or right-of-return hopefulness—that explained the variance in depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Palestinian adult refugees in Jordan exhibited symptoms of major depression that were associated with poorer perceived health and less hopefulness about repatriation to Palestine. Clinical Relevance: Nurses with community or mental health specialization can play a major role by systematically screening refugees for depression using worldwide, evidence-based tools and by advocating for policies that can improve the health and living conditions of refugees. © 2017 Sigma Theta Tau International

perceived health Palestinian refugee right of return Depression Jordan Hope

depression refugee Jordan poverty human Refugees middle aged health status Arab hope Arabs Cross-Sectional Studies Surveys and Questionnaires cross-sectional study Humans sociology male female questionnaire adult