(PTFS19-03-24) Situational Meaning of Food Insecurity Among Refugee Families Resettled in the United States

Objectives: This qualitative research investigated the experience of household food insecurity among Syrian refugees resettled in the United States. The objectives were to explore the situational meaning of food insecurity among refugee families and how past events and the available resources carried throughout different life stages, before and after resettlement, shaped their meanings.


Methods: Purposeful sampling was used, and 18 Syrian refugee families (N=24 individuals) who lived in the Washington metropolitan area for 8 years or less participated in in-depth Arabic interviews. A maximum of three separate interviews were conducted in each family one with each of two adults (usually parents) and one with the child. Demographics and the Arab Family Food Security Scale were collected. Coding was conducted using grounded theory, treating each family interview as a case. Categories were developed within each case, guided by the life course perspective and hedonic adaptation.

Results: Refugee families described multiple exposures to food hardships during their transitions following their home exile and within the resettlement country (the US). Both exposure to food insecurity and resettlement transitions led to the development of psychological and physical resources, which shaped their interpretation of current food insecurity events in the US. Families' hedonic adaptation helped explain their assessments and interpretations of food insecurity experienced in their current lives in the US.

Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of recognizing the role that past experiences and social and physical environments play in understanding the complex and dynamic nature of refugee families’ interpretation of food insecurity.

Funding Sources: University of South Carolina Olga I. Ogoussan Doctoral Research Award and Butterfoss Community-Based Research Endowed Fellowship.