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Objective: There is substantial evidence that refugees' employment experiences are marred by a range of hurdles as they settle in their host country. This study investigated the relationship between a range of independent variables such as, demographic factors, acculturation, acculturative stress, and resilience and the dependent variable that is the employment status of former refugees. Method: Questionnaire data were gathered from 169 participants from the Ethiopian, Congolese, and Myanmar communities settled in Brisbane, Australia. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to investigate the factors that predicted employment status. Results: Resilience and demographic variables such as age, education, gender, and country of origin were not associated with being employed. Length of stay and English proficiency increased the likelihood of being employed. Surprisingly, an increase in acculturation was associated with the likelihood of being unemployed, while an increase in acculturative stress was associated with the likelihood of being employed. Conclusions: These findings indicate that unemployed participants perceived themselves to be acculturated and integrated, while those who were employed reported more acculturative stress. Furthermore, employment despite its positive impact can also be stressful. The study has practical and theoretical implications for stakeholders involved in the employment of refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study had two goals: First, a 20-item “Refugee Parent-Child Relational Communication Scale ” was developed for parents from refugee backgrounds. Former refugee parents from Ethiopia, Congo, and Burma (= 221) completed this and other questionnaires measuring demographics, acculturation, and acculturative stress. Exploratory factor analysis indicated three factors: “Engagement,” “Hope and Aspirations,” and “Dissonance.” The subscales were internally consistent. Second, this newly developed scale was used to explore whether the parents’ communication and relations with their children were associated with demographics, acculturation, and acculturative stress. Results of multiple regressions indicated that mothers and parents with higher acculturation were more engaged with their children and also encouraged their children to aspire for higher goals in life. Although parents with higher acculturative stress were also developing aspirations and hopes in their children; they reported strained relations with their children. Parents from the Congo scored higher on dissonance, indicating some problematic communication with their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]