Understanding emotion regulation in Venezuelan immigrants to Peru and Peruvian internal migrants: a comparative study

Abstract

Migration is a phenomenon that impacts a range of areas in people's lives. However, research identifying differences and similarities in socio-emotional processes, considering different types of migration, is scant. Adopting a resilient framework, the present study sought to fill a gap in knowledge by comparing Venezuelan migrants (n = 346) to Peru with Peruvian internal migrants (n = 294) residing in the same city. The results showed significant differences in the emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and suppression) in favour of Venezuelan migrants, while a higher level of perception of social support from friends was observed in the Peruvian sample. A greater number of social predictors (perceived social support from family and significant other) and sociodemographic variables (gender and student status) on emotion regulation were observed in the Venezuelan sample; whereas in the Peruvian sample only two significant predictors (perceived social support from family and work status) contributed to emotion regulation strategies. It is concluded that migration, whether international or internal, is associated with adaptive processes, whereby social supports and socio-demographic characteristics can act as protective or risk factors. These findings have implications for the development of policies in support of migrants’ psychological well-being.