Ethnic Identity, Perceived Parental Sacrifice, and Psychological Distress among Bosnian-American College-Aged Students

Refugees of war experience horrors and escape their homelands, in hopes of a better life for themselves and their children. In the 1990s, war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, and thousands of Bosnian Muslims underwent horrific experiences, including death, torture, rape, and much more; and millions were displaced following the bloodshed (Mollica et al., 1999). Being a child of a refugee and coming from a war-torn land can have numerous impacts on a child’s mental health. Researchers have extensively studied the impacts of war exposure among Bosnian refugees and shed light on important issues with regard to refugee mental health. The current study focused on a group that has received little attention in the literature: the “1.5 generational” group of children of Bosnian war refugees, who are now young adults, many in college (N = 282). This study sought to understand the role that ethnic identity, stress, academic success, and perceived parental sacrifice play in identity development and feelings of success among Bosnian-American college-aged students. Primary analyses revealed no significant effect between the variables and exploratory analyses highlighted important cultural themes found in previous literature as well. Results provided a novel contribution to the literature, in that they uncovered the young voices of the Bosnian diasporic community through both various quantitative and qualitative analyses, which provided helpful insights and experiences that need to be considered in future research