Most people who experience trauma want to thrive and often find paths to well-being and healthy functioning. This scoping review explores the existing evidence on adversity and resilience in ...southeastern European countries, focusing on Kosovo. There is a lack of research on trauma and resilience in cultures outside the US and Western Europe. The paper provides a brief cultural and historical overview of this region and the collectivist cultures found there. We draw from a range of interdisciplinary literatures to identify key strengths that have the potential to improve health outcomes for trauma victims in this region. Overall, 42 papers from PsycInfo and PubMed were identified, using keywords such as “resilience” or “health” and “Kosovo,” “Balkans,” and “Southeastern Europe.” Findings from this scoping review show that different cultural values, norms, and societal ecologies impact resilience within these societies. Some strengths, such as social support and sense of purpose, echoed similar research in the US and Western Europe. There was also evidence that factors such as dignity, family solidarity, social activism, and nationwide meaning-making are strengths associated with resilience for these collectivist societies of southeastern Europe. We also consider the implications of the results for other post-conflict societies. Finally, findings from this review call for culturally sensitive strength-based perspectives in promoting health and well-being after the high dosages of trauma common in this region.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) among university students is a prevalent problem in many countries; however, it is not currently recognized in Kosovo as a social issue in terms of research, ...prevention, and intervention. The aim of this article was to examine the relationship between violence socialization experiences, approval of violence, and IPV perpetration/victimization among university students in Kosovo. The questionnaires were administrated to a convenience sample of 700 students of University of Prishtina who were in relationship for 1 month or longer. The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2) was used for measuring physical, psychological, and sexual violence, whereas for measuring violence socialization and violence approval, scales from Personal and Relationships Profile (PRP) were used. Findings from this study show that there were statistically significant gender differences in terms of socialization and approval of violence among university students. Similarly, perpetrators and victims of IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual violence) showed higher rates of socialization of violence and tolerance toward IPV. Besides, findings indicate that approval of violence mediates the relationship between socialization of violence and IPV perpetration and victimization, for both genders. The implications of the current findings within a cultural context are also discussed.
Previous research suggests that social support affects both career self-efficacy and career decision-making status. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between social support ...and career indecision and the role that career self-efficacy plays in this relationship. A series of validated measures assessing social support, career self-efficacy, and career indecision were administrated to 700 Kosovar youth (mean age = 18.1 years, 57% women and 42.9% men). The findings revealed that social support was significantly negatively correlated with career indecision. The study results also indicated that social support was indirectly correlated with career indecision, as career self-efficacy played a mediating role in this relationship. The findings provide useful insight into the links between social support, career self-efficacy, and career decision making. Therefore, these results provide a foundation for the development of interventions for adolescents.
Introduction:
Although investigations of changing gender roles have been performed globally, most studies have been conducted in high-income countries, and studies from emerging and developing ...countries are lacking. This study aims to examine the factor structure of the feminine gender role stress scale among women (FGRS) and explore its relationship with psychological distress (PD).
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was carried out with 656 women from Kosovo using a convenience sampling technique during October 2017 and March 2018. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 and Mplus 7.3. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis were used to understand the goodness-of-fit of the FGRS scale in the Kosovo context and explore the relationship between the FGRS scale and PD when treated as latent variables. Multivariance analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to understand the differences between groups of women based on employment and FGRS. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the prediction of different domains of FGRS for PD separately for each category while controlling for age.
Results:
After demonstrating that the five-factor model of the FGRS showed a good fit to the data in this sample of Kosovo women, analyses revealed that the FGRS domains (fear of victimization and behaving with assertiveness) were positively associated with psychological distress.
Conclusion:
The findings validate the usefulness of the FGRS scale in a sample of Kosovar women. The intersectionality perspective was used to interpret the importance of multiple layers of vulnerabilities and their coexistence, including education, socioeconomic status, and their implications for health inequalities.
The research evidence shows that war had many detrimental effects on the mental health, wellbeing, and social functioning of the people of Kosova, which is similar to the findings in many other ...postconflict societies. However, there are few studies focusing on the process of meaning-making of war experiences and their impacts on resilience and growth. This phenomenological study aimed to explore the lived war experiences of citizens of Kosova from the perspectives of three generations (grandparents, parents and children) through semistructured interviews, which were conducted with 37 participants. Thematic analysis revealed that the journey of the meaning-making of war experiences in Kosova is rather dynamic and reflects the context in which each generational cohort lived and grew. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the strategies used by each generation for meaning-making and how these strategies contributed to resilience and growth. The implications for mental health counselors, social workers, and policymakers are discussed.
ABSTRACTThis study delves into gender stereotypes among young people in Kosovo and Albania, emphasizing cultural differences that are often overlooked in research. The study involved 412 students ...from Kosovo and 255 students from Albania who were surveyed using the Qualtrics Platform. Students rated the desirability of agentic and communal traits for men, women, and themselves. Results showed that males associated agentic traits with other males, while females associated communal traits with females. Females were still primarily associated with caring and communal roles, while males dominated achievement-oriented, agentic roles. Although some relaxation of gender stereotypes was observed, these findings highlight the need to address deeply ingrained gender stereotypes through transformative programmes that promote a more balanced and inclusive societal framework. Such programmes would encourage the participation of young males and females alike for a more equitable society.
Guided by the early findings of social scientists, practitioners have long advocated for greater contact between groups to reduce prejudice and increase social cohesion. Recent work, however, ...suggests that intergroup contact can undermine support for social change towards greater equality, especially among disadvantaged group members. Using a large and heterogeneous dataset (12,997 individuals from 69 countries), we demonstrate that intergroup contact and support for social change towards greater equality are positively associated among members of advantaged groups (ethnic majorities and cis-heterosexuals) but negatively associated among disadvantaged groups (ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities). Specification-curve analysis revealed important variation in the size-and at times, direction-of correlations, depending on how contact and support for social change were measured. This allowed us to identify one type of support for change-willingness to work in solidarity- that is positively associated with intergroup contact among both advantaged and disadvantaged group members.
This study aims to examine the factor structure and validity of the Albanian TAS-20 (Toronto Alexithymia Scale) using a sample comprised of 342 students and 196 patients from a psychiatric clinic. ...Based on a literature review of studies of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), three types of models were tested: first-order models with method factors and covariances, a second-order model with method factors and covariances, and nested models with method factors and covariances. The findings suggest that a three-factor correlated model with method factors was the best and most parsimonious solution for the clinical sample, exhibiting adequate levels of performance based on the goodness of fit criteria. However, regarding the student sample, the nested three-factor model with method factors and covariances demonstrated a superior fit when compared with the other tested models. Although the total scale of difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) and difficulty describing feelings (DDF) scores provided sound internal consistency, the externally oriented thinking (EOT) subscale did not. Nonetheless, as the CFA suggests the plausibility of negatively keyed items in the method factors, further interpretation of this scale is suggested. This study concludes that the TAS-20 of the Albanian language is appropriate for research purposes, and further research is needed for its application for clinical practice.
Student victimization by school staff members has important potential consequences for students’ academic achievement and physical and psychological outcomes. Several studies have shown that such ...victimization exists in multiple contexts and there is considerable variation in prevalence among contexts. This study examined the prevalence of student victimization in public schools by staff members and its relationships with other school-related factors in the context of Kosovo. The sample was designed to represent all students from Grades 6–9 in 13 of Kosovo's 38 municipalities. The sample consisted of 12,040 students from 100 schools, 49.2% of whom were female. They were equally divided between Grades 6 to 9. Overall, more than a quarter of the students reported that a staff member victimized them in the last month. The least prevalent victimization type was sexual—touched or tried to touch you in a sexual manner (2.3%). The most prevalent physical behavior was slapping (15.8%); 12.7% reported being offended or humiliated by a staff member and 8.3% indicated that a staff member cursed them. Boys were victimized significantly more than girls for all types of victimization. The strongest predictors of staff victimization of students were students’ involvement in peer-to-peer victimization and risky behaviors, which were correlated with school climate. Future research should examine each type of staff victimization of students (emotional, physical, sexual) separately and test comprehensive models that include multiple predictors, including contextual and school-level variables and staff characteristics.
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