Early research on the mental health of civilians displaced by armed conflict focused primarily on the direct effects of exposure to war-related violence and loss. Largely overlooked in this war exposure model were the powerful effects of ongoing stressors related to the experience of displacement itself. An ecological model of refugee distress is proposed, drawing on research demonstrating that mental health among refugees and asylum seekers stems not only from prior war exposure, but also from a host of ongoing stressors in their social ecology, or displacement-related stressors. Implications of this model for addressing the mental health and psychosocial needs of refugees and other displaced populations are considered. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016.

Asylum seekers Ecological Daily stressors Mental health Refugees trauma

social psychology refugee social ecological model war exposure displacement behavior mental health human Life Change Events Refugees Warfare war violence life event Stress, Psychological mental stress coping behavior Adaptation, Psychological social needs asylum seeker Humans psychology male female Armed Conflicts civilian Article adult Social Environment posttraumatic stress disorder distress syndrome Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic psychotrauma