This document describes a proposed study examining risk and protective factors related to resilience in Arab American youth. The study aims to compare immigrant and non-immigrant youth on factors like ethnic identity, acculturation, discrimination, and well-being. It also examines how acculturation and enculturation relate to ethnic identity and well-being. Finally, it analyzes how ethnic identity influences well-being through psychosocial factors, social context, family context, and personality. The researchers hope to better understand Arab American youth to help foster resilience and minimize risks through culturally appropriate mental health support.

1. 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