American Psychological Association Annual Convention

Washington, D.C., August 2014 Conflict of Interest: None

Contact: iyrg@uwindsor.ca

A Developmental Psychopathology Approach to Promoting Resilience in Arab American Youth

Shawna A. Scott, Cassandra Pasiak, Julie Hakim-Larson, & Rosanne Menna University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

BACKGROUND

• The sociopolitical context of Arab countries can greatly impact immigrant families.

• Sociopolitical factors include the level of conflict in the country of origin, pre-migration influences, and motives for leaving the country (e.g., war trauma).

• In Syria, for example, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees has estimated there are currently 2.1 million Syrian refugees and over 70,000 Syrians awaiting registration (UNHCR, 2013).

• Arabs in North America are considered to be a relatively young group with over 40% in the age range of 24 and under (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

• Based on a literature review of Arab Americans’ acculturation, enculturation, health and well-being, a model is proposed to examine the following research questions:

1. How do immigrant youth differ from non-immigrant youth on ethnic identity, acculturation, perceived discrimination, social support, personality tendencies, cultural values and attitudes towards family values, life satisfaction, and overall quality of life?

2. How is acculturation and enculturation related to ethnic identity formation and well-being?

3. Are ethnic identity processes related to well-being through psychosocial factors (i.e., gender, immigration status, generational status, English language), social context (i.e., discrimination, social supports), family context (i.e., family values), and personality tendencies?

CONCLUSIONS

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MODEL

AIMS

Research Funded by: •Society for Research in Child Development

(SRCD) Grant •Social Sciences and Humanities Research

Council (SSHRC) Connection Grant

• With a better understanding of risk and protective factors related to Arab American youth and emerging adults, mental health professionals in North America can better foster resilience and minimize the impact of risk factors at various systems of influence.

• Consequently, such supports are likely to assist Arab youth as they negotiate the developmental task of identity development.

• A key developmental task of youth and emerging adults is the formation of identity (Cummings, Davies, & Campbell, 2000).

• Difficulties with identity may result in an inability to successfully negotiate subsequent developmental tasks.

• Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological model provides complimentary levels of analysis of proximal (e.g., family social networks) and distal systems (e.g., cultural systems) that influence the development of individuals.

• It is useful to examine such systems of influence to better understand Arab Americans’ post-migration process.

IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

• While some Arab Americans have a social support network in the broader environment, other immigrants may feel they have entered a society that has prejudicial attitudes toward them.

• Arab American youth may experience acculturative stress when adjusting to Western culture and may encounter such prejudice and discrimination.

• Some Middle Eastern immigrants are at a greater risk for depression, anxiety, and disorders related to trauma (Hakim-Larson, Nassar-McMillan, & Paterson, 2012).

• Arab American youth will need assessment and treatment tailored to their unique needs in order to bolster resilience (Kira, Amer, & Wrobel, 2014).

• Both risk and protective factors related to the acculturation and psychological outcomes of Arab Americans have been identified (Amer, 2014) but not tested in a comprehensive model.

• An ecological approach is used, within a developmental psychopathology framework, to examine Arabs’ immigration experiences.

PSYCHOSOCIAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Factors Impacting Acculturation and Psychological Outcome

Generational Status, Immigration Status, Language, Gender, Personality Tendencies, Strong Ethnic Identity, Immigration-Related Traumas and Pre-

Migration War Experiences, Religiosity and Religious Coping, Sense of Belonging, Social Isolation

Family Values and Traditions, Family Support, Cohesive Family Ties, Social Support and Friendships, Enculturation, Parent-Child Acculturation Conflict, Intergenerational Conflict, Broken Kinship Ties, Bullying and Discrimination

Interconnections between Microsystems

Supportive Community Networks, Difficulty Navigating Legal and Health Care Systems

Residence in an Ethnically Dense Neighbourhood, Hostile Climates, Assimilation Pressures, Forced Marginalization, Acculturative Stress

Individual